Review: “Cartier” at the V&A Museum in London

A decade in the making, the Cartier exhibition at London’s V&A museum almost immediately sold out its first six weeks. Billed as an exploration of how the three Cartier brothers propelled the company founded by their grandfather in Paris in 1847 to international renown in the 20th Century, it is an intriguing iceberg of a show with its most interesting aspects playing second fiddle to the visual splendor.

And splendor is a fitting descriptor. Upon entering the Sainsbury Gallery, transformed by moody lighting, viewers are met by the Manchester Tiara. The piece, commissioned by the Dowager Duchess of Manchester in 1903 and displayed alone with its 1,500+ diamonds lit by a gently rotating spotlight, glitters seductively at visitors as if to say, “This is what you came for.” Driving home the point, the exhibition’s grand finale is an entire room of tiaras—the gem-laden headwear pointedly bookend the show.

Regalia of this degree of opulence and glamor naturally had opulent and glamorous owners and wearers, and “Cartier” references a veritable Who’s Who of the past 100 years: magnates, politicians, businessmen, Vanderbilts, Asquiths, Hollywood royalty and actual royalty. The Pineflower Tiara, a relatively restrained creation compared to some of its fellows, speaks to the fashions of the day with its emerald-cut aquamarines and a glut of diamonds. Commissioned as an anniversary gift in 1938 by George VI for his wife, Queen Elizabeth, it takes inspiration from Art Deco, which celebrates its centenary this year. Several of the items were loaned from King Charles III and his family, who have a long relationship with Cartier and were, the exhibition emphasizes, instrumental to the jewelry house’s burgeoning global reputation in the early 1900s. King Edward VII commissioned tiaras for his 1902 Coronation, granting Cartier a Royal Warrant soon after. He would famously call them “the jeweler of kings and the King of Jewelers.”

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The first room is organized geographically: Egypt, Iran, the Islamic World, the Russian Empire, China and Japan. We learn how a fascination for the far-flung places was at the core of many Cartier creations, such as the multicolored “tutti-frutti” baubles inspired by the jewels of India and often created with them. The “Egyptomania” which exploded after Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun expresses itself in an array of blue-glazed faience scarabs and miniature sarcophagi. A wall text touches on the problematic sourcing of gems over the decades, but how interwoven early Cartier history is with stories of Orientalism, colonialism and empire remains, for the most part, subtext.

Accompanying the ornaments are mounted pages from the books that served as design inspiration. One example is an original drawing by designer and architect Owen Jones, published in his 1857 work The Grammar of Ornament, depicting details of architectural decoration in Cairo. The slow-moving queue making its way around the Sainsbury Gallery does not linger long at these particular displays, which are unable to compete with the gems. But arguably, these are the true focal point of the exhibition.

They traveled here, they saw these things, they pored over these books. Here is how the brothers and their craftspeople adopted patterns and motifs and transformed them. The range of objects from trinkets to heirlooms makes one wonder about what Cartier and their clients felt was worthy of immortalization and why. Interpretations of elements from the natural world abound: a diamond-encrusted rose brooch for Princess Margaret, ostentatious flamingos and panthers with intimidating glittering eyes. The spiritual and mythological appear, too. There are several gem-studded Buddhas and brooches depicting Egyptian goddesses. Fashioning finery, the show suggests, is one of the ways the voracious consumption of the world can be distilled into artistic creation.

Like other jewelry-focused exhibitions, “Cartier” highlights the craftsmanship of one of the great haute joaillerie houses. But this particular show asks the viewer to consider not just the world of adornments but also the world of ideas. It is refreshing to see an institution attempt, while showcasing hundreds of attention-grabbing treasures, to emphasize the ephemeral—the synthesis of inspiration—over the physical act of craft. It speaks to the savvy curation of this “blockbuster exhibition,” which eschews the usual drive to justify craft as being worthy of display alongside fine art in the hallowed halls of art museums. It also speaks to why the V&A, which has a stunning permanent collection of jewels and an impressive art library that includes Jones’ book, feels like the most appropriate setting for this historic exhibition.

“Cartier” is on view at the V&A Museum in London through November 16, 2025

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