Vintage Cartier London Birds

Some vintage Cartier birds to wish you a very Happy Easter. Any favourites?

For those interested in a bit of family background: my grandfather, Jean-Jacques Cartier (last image), loved playing around with the window displays in the Cartier London store at different times of year.

In the lead-up to Easter, he would suggest that Cartier's jewellery designers focus on designs for bird brooches that incorporated some of the gemstones they had in stock at the time — so an opal could become a kingfisher, a ruby could feature in an exotic bird, and chalcedony could be transformed into an owl.

Once Jean-Jacques had approved which designs would become reality, the chosen ones were passed to the English Art Works workshop above the 175 New Bond Street showroom, where a busy team of talented mounters, setters and polishers would bring them to life.

Finally, only after they had passed his stringent quality test — which included them being worn by an employee to check the stones were angled in just the right way to catch the light — would it be time for them to be displayed in the windows. Jean-Jacques would create little spring-themed scenes to delight those walking past.

I can imagine him out on New Bond Street, looking in at the windows, checking and rechecking that the finished look was just right. He was something of a perfectionist.

Here, in his memory, is a little bejewelled trip back in time at Easter.

Credits (left to right): First row: S.J. Phillips (ruby exotic), Hindman Auctions (coral and emerald). Second row: Bonhams (agate & sapphire owl), Christie's (gold and coral hen), Elstob & Elstob (emerald, citrine and diamond). Third row: Christie's (opal kingfisher), 1stDibs (gold and spinel robin), Doyle New York (gold, white chalcedony duck).

Image Gallery

Cartier bird brooches