The Nizam of Hyderabad was among the most celebrated of the Indian maharaja clients who made Cartier a significant presence in the subcontinent's luxury market in the early to mid-twentieth century. Hyderabad was then one of the wealthiest of the princely states, and the Nizam was reported to be among the richest individuals in the world. His purchases from Cartier operated at a scale that was unusual even among clients of extraordinary wealth.
Purchasing at scale
Accounts of the Nizam's dealings with Cartier describe him as someone who was known for buying entire display cases of jewellery rather than selecting individual pieces. Alfred Cartier is recorded as being eager to know about the new Nizam when Hyderabad came under new leadership, an indication of how significant the client relationship was to the firm's Indian trade. This approach to purchasing, acquiring whole groups of pieces rather than individual commissions, placed the Nizam at the more exceptional end of even the Cartier client spectrum.
The Hyderabad Necklace
The piece most closely connected to the Nizam in the public record is the Hyderabad Necklace, a diamond necklace that he gave as a wedding gift to Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) in 1947. The gift placed a Cartier-connected piece within the British royal collection at the moment of a major state occasion, and the necklace has remained in the Royal Collection since.
The July 1947 timing of the Nizam's dealings with Indian clients sits within the final period of the princely states before Partition and Independence transformed the political landscape of the subcontinent. The context of Indian Independence meant that the period of the great maharaja commissions was drawing to a close, and the Nizam's gift to Princess Elizabeth was among the later commissions that mark the end of that era.
Sources
- Francesca Cartier Brickell, The Cartiers (Ballantine Books, 2019)
- Hans Nadelhoffer, Cartier: Jewelers Extraordinary (Chronicle Books, 2007 edition)
