This very rare and unusual Cartier, Paris diamond clip brooch made a rather dizzying price in Paris this afternoon.
Before thinking too much about the price, let's for a second consider the piece. Whereas most clips of this ilk come in pairs, each being just a single element, this model is made up of five elements but connected into one, single clip. This gives length which other clip brooches never have. This means it can be worn on the neck as illustrated. This is only the second such brooch to have come to the market in many years. About six years, there was another, slightly bigger but the same idea. These are the only two known.
But what is particularly important about this clip apart from the size, is that it is of true 'Cartier style'. The Cartier 'style' was something the three Cartier's brothers really strove to achieve in the early days of the 20th Century. This is what set Cartier apart from all the other Paris Houses. Today, this aspect, this clearly apparent 'look', is what truly defines one piece of Cartier from another. Cartier taught their designers to work within the boundaries of this aesthetic. If something was not 'Cartier', it would be rejected. Denis Gardiner, one of the London designers, was said to have waited three years before being told his designs were 'Cartier'.
So the lucky buyer who had to pay $ 50,000 against an estimate of $ 12-15,000, clearly knew what he was doing. He has bought himself a great beauty of a jewel..rare, elegant and something which is 'pure' Cartier...this will never be lost nor diluted by the passing of time....
