Hans Nadelhoffer studied Literature and History of Art at the University of Bern before joining Christie's Geneva, where he headed the jewellery department. Christie's had opened its Geneva saleroom in 1968, and the jewellery sales there through the 1970s helped establish the city as a leading venue for important jewels. Nadelhoffer worked there through the period when that reputation was being built.
He left Christie's to undertake a major research project on Cartier. The result was Cartier: Jewelers Extraordinary, published in 1984 by Harry N. Abrams in New York and Thames and Hudson in London. The book appeared in English, French, Italian, and German.
Thames and Hudson issued a revised edition in 2007, redesigned in colour throughout, with new illustrations and additional material. Chronicle Books distributed the 2007 edition in the United States.
Nadelhoffer also co-authored Reflections of Elegance: Cartier Jewels from the Lindemann Collection (New Orleans Museum of Art) with Eric Nussbaum and Harry Fane, documenting a major American private collection of Cartier jewels and objects assembled by George and Frayda Lindemann.
Sources
- Francesca Cartier Brickell, The Cartiers (Ballantine Books, 2019), Acknowledgements ("pioneering history")
- Hans Nadelhoffer, Cartier: Jewelers Extraordinary (Thames and Hudson, 1984; revised 2007)
- Hans Nadelhoffer and Eric Nussbaum, Reflections of Elegance: Cartier Jewels from the Lindemann Collection (New Orleans Museum of Art)
