The TV Bangle is a plain gold bangle produced by Cartier London in the early 1970s under the creative direction of Jean-Jacques Cartier. It has no gemstones. Its form is geometric and angular, characteristic of the early 1970s.
Jean-Jacques ran Cartier London through the Swinging Sixties as an artist who also had to solve a commercial problem. He had trained as a designer at the École des Arts Décoratifs and was not inclined to abandon quality or reduce Cartier to something cheaper, but the context demanded adaptation. Debutante balls had given way to student rebellions; twinsets had given way to Mary Quant miniskirts. The high-end jewellery market was difficult. Some competitors moved toward costume jewellery. Jean-Jacques chose a different direction: pieces that looked right with contemporary fashion, were less expensive than gem-set work but were still made to Cartier's standards of craftsmanship, and retained the exclusivity he valued by being produced in deliberately limited numbers.
The TV Bangle sat in that category. The name references its profile: the angular, slightly convex form that evokes a mid-century television screen in cross-section. It came with a hallmark and serial number stamped on the reverse.
When an example appeared at Bonhams, it sold well above its estimate. A different example, paired with earrings, had been sold earlier at Christie's. The bangle represents a small but recurring presence in the auction market for vintage Cartier London pieces, and sits alongside the Cartier Crash and Cartier Pebble as one of the distinctive objects that came out of the London branch during Jean-Jacques's years at its head.
For the full account, see Cartier London TV Bangle.
Sources
- Francesca Cartier Brickell, The Cartiers (Ballantine Books, 2019), ch. 11 ("The End of an Era, 1957–1974")
