cover image Made by Cartier: 150 Years of Tradition and Innovation

Made by Cartier: 150 Years of Tradition and Innovation

Franco Cologni. Abbeville Press, $75 (254pp) ISBN 978-1-55859-599-6

The Cartier firm, which opened its first shop in Paris in 1847 and later expanded to London and New York City, is synonymous with luxury jewelry. Yet Cartier has always sold functional objects as well that blend practicality and elegance. Opera glasses, a heart-shaped gold belt buckle, cigarette lighters, fountain pens and watches are among the items showcased in this glitzy survey with 221 photos, 190 in color. Cologni, vice-chairman of Cartier International, and Mocchetti, art director of Giorgio Mondadori publishers, draw on company archives to show how Cartier designers have responded to changing tastes and fashions, absorbing such influences as Japanese art, African fabrics and carvings, the costumed dances of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and art deco. This is a tony gift book. (Nov.)