175 New Bond Street, in the heart of Mayfair, was the address of Cartier London for most of the twentieth century. The London branch, the firm's British operation run first by Jacques Cartier and later by his son Jean-Jacques Cartier, occupied these premises until the family sold its interest in the business in 1974.
New Bond Street had long been one of London's principal luxury shopping streets, and Cartier's presence there placed it within easy reach of the aristocratic and royal clientele the London branch cultivated. The retail salon at 175 was the public face of the operation; behind it, the watchmaking and assembly work was handled by a team that included Eric Denton, while the jewellery and cases were produced by specialist craftsmen in Clerkenwell (English Art Works Ltd for jewellery and decorative pieces, Wright & Davies Ltd for watch cases and straps) and brought to New Bond Street for finishing and sale.
The branch had operated from New Burlington Street before moving to New Bond Street, but it is the 175 address that is associated with the branch's most celebrated period, including the pieces produced under Jean-Jacques Cartier's direction in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Sources
- Francesca Cartier Brickell, The Cartiers (Ballantine Books, 2019), ch. 4 (“Jacques, 1906–1919”) and ch. 10 (“Cousins in Austerity, 1945–1956”)
- Hans Nadelhoffer, Cartier: Jewelers Extraordinary (Thames and Hudson, 1984; revised 2007), pp. 14, 20 et al.
