{"id":31527,"date":"2014-11-14T17:33:09","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T09:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=31527"},"modified":"2014-11-14T16:18:31","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T08:18:31","slug":"elizabeth-taylor-princess-grace-jewelry-showcased-in-cartier-brilliant-show-in-denver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/11\/14\/elizabeth-taylor-princess-grace-jewelry-showcased-in-cartier-brilliant-show-in-denver\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Grace jewelry showcased in Cartier \u2018Brilliant\u2019 show in Denver"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Necklace<\/a>
Necklace worn by Countess of Granard. Cartier London, special order, 1932. Platinum, diamonds, emerald. Height at center 8.80 cm. Cartier Collection. Photo: Vincent Wulveryck, Cartier Collection \u00a9 Cartier.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DENVER\u2014In one corner of the gallery, Grace Kelly polishes her engagement ring on screen in the 1956 musical \u201cHigh Society.\u201d In a case just steps away sits a dazzling 10.5-carat Cartier emerald-cut diamond given to her by her real-life fiance, which she wore in that final film role just before becoming Princess Grace of Monaco.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of over 250 jewels, timepieces and other luxury accessories crafted by the Paris-based jeweler, some of them rarely seen by the public, that\u2019s been assembled from Cartier\u2019s own collection and private owners for an exclusive show at the Denver Art Museum starting Sunday. \u201cBrilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century\u201d shows how Cartier\u2019s creations both mirrored changes in society and helped pioneer styles through wars, the growing independence of women and interest in designs from beyond the West.<\/p>\n

Princess Grace\u2019s ring, a 64-carat diamond necklace, and an example of the yellow gold jewelry she favoured in private\u2014a brooch of a mother bird atop a nest of pearl eggs\u2014appear in the show\u2019s finale focused women who embraced Cartier during the last century.<\/p>\n

They include Elizabeth Taylor, whose ruby-and-diamond necklace from second husband Mike Todd is on display. It can conveniently be converted into a tiara with the addition of a frame. There are also two large gold three-dimensional crocodiles, one encrusted with more than 1,000 emeralds, the other with 1,000 yellow diamonds, which can be formed into a necklace that belonged to Mexican film actress Maria Felix.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had style and she wasn\u2019t afraid to flaunt it,\u201d show curator Margaret Young-Sanchez said of Felix.<\/p>\n

From the Duchess of Windsor\u2014the former Wallis Simpson\u2014there\u2019s a bracelet and brooch featuring a jeweled panther sitting on top of a sapphire cabochon, among other items. The panther became both a symbol of the brand and also of the greater boldness of women\u2019s style by the middle of the century, said Pierre Rainero, who oversees Cartier\u2019s efforts to buy back and preserve its pieces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very daring. Until that moment, it was only linked to women outside of society,\u201d Rainero said of the panther.<\/p>\n

The diamond necklace with the enormous emerald used in the show\u2019s promotional materials was made in 1932 for Lady Granard, the daughter of American financier Ogden Mills, who married an earl. She wore such over-the-top jewels into her old age, leading one diarist at the time to remark that the woman could barely walk because of their weight, Young-Sanchez said.<\/p>\n

The exhibit also shows how the influence of the Ballet Russes dance company, which had foreign-themed costumes and sets designed by artists like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, helped create a demand for jewelry influenced by Egyptian, Islamic and Indian styles. After World War I, that gave Cartier the freedom to use new materials and designs beyond the traditional diamond and gem creations that had been sought in conservative society. One of the most famous results of this was the \u201ctutti frutti\u201d designs in which multi-colored jewels, some engraved to resemble flowers and leaves, are pieced together in a mosaic, an influence from India.<\/p>\n

Some of eastern-inspired designs echo the chunky bib costume necklaces worn today, albeit without the precious jewels.<\/p>\n

Objects made for men aren\u2019t overlooked but there\u2019s much less bling. They include Cartier\u2019s famous and much copied wristwatches, favoured by Juan Peron, Cary Grant and Andy Warhol. Louis Cartier began working on streamlined watches for men to wear around their wrists instead of in their pockets in 1904, about 25 years before they became popular. There are also the cigarette cases, cuff links and even a pocket knife.<\/p>\n

Besides the iconic watches, the brand\u2019s influence stretches beyond those rich enough to own pieces of their own.<\/p>\n

One of its enduring and copied styles is the Trinity ring\u2014a trio of bands of yellow, rose and white gold. Cartier was also a pioneer in using platinum as a setting to show off the sparkle of diamonds, an approach now common in engagement rings. At the turn of the century, the strong metal was mainly used in industry, not jewelry, but Cartier developed a way to shape it and hold diamonds, Young-Sanchez said. Previously, jewelry makers had overlaid silver on top of gold to boost the appearance of diamonds but the softer silver required frequent polishing.<\/p>\n

The show runs through March 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DENVER\u2014In one corner of the gallery, Grace Kelly polishes her engagement ring on screen in the 1956 musical \u201cHigh Society.\u201d …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":31528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fashion-and-beauty","mauthors-colleen-slevin","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}