About the Author

Francesca Cartier Brickell is a direct descendant of the Cartier family. Her great-great-great-grandfather founded the firm in 1847 and her late grandfather, Jean-Jacques Cartier, was the last of the family to manage a branch of the business.

After graduating with a degree in English Literature from Oxford University, Francesca studied French Literature at the Sorbonne before going on to a career in finance as a financial analyst and later fund manager (Barclays, RBS). She has worked in London, New York and Asia but a few years ago took the decision to leave her work in the City to focus on her book.

Francesca has spent the last decade tracking down original source material across the world and meeting people connected with the family and its business. She has conducted extensive independent research across three continents - in New York, London and Geneva - and interviewed people connected with the family and its businesses.

It is this extensive independent research, combined with first hand knowledge of the family and a huge collection of letters, telegrams, documents and photographs discovered in her grandfather's cellar, that has enabled Francesca to uncover a uniquely personal story of one of the world's most legendary brands.