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52 reviews for:
The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire
Francesca Cartier Brickell
4.02 AVERAGE
52 reviews for:
The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire
Francesca Cartier Brickell
4.02 AVERAGE
Incredibly interesting history of a family legacy in business and craftsmanship. Every reference to the French Riviera had my heart swooning. Reliving the Cartier family history was reliving world history through different leaders, wars, markets, and economies. My joe the times have changed and yet have they?
This book has me looking at passerby’s jewelry in an entirely different light. And I want a Cartier piece yesterday!
This book has me looking at passerby’s jewelry in an entirely different light. And I want a Cartier piece yesterday!
informative
slow-paced
DNF a couple hundred of pages and 5 months later this is a slog of s-shaped-logs. Too many names, not enough on the specifics of the jewellery trade, focused on a family history not a history of art. Best parts were about the pearl diving scuffle on the Mediterranean, and the jewel negotiate with Maharaja’s past.
Don’t pick it up unless your surname is Cartier.
Don’t pick it up unless your surname is Cartier.
I cried no less than three (3) times reading this book. Why you ask? I would love to know. This isn’t my typical book to read but just a really comprehensive history of a company that became a staple of society.
very thorough, very personal - of course brushes over the holocaust years in classic french self denialism, but so it goes
An oddly compelling story of the Cartiers and their rise as a family owned business through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I mostly enjoyed the sections about evolving sales strategies and design. However, this is completely and bizarrely out of touch with reality. Any time I thought she might discuss class or where this wealth came from she completely ignores it. Its a laudatory family tale and wealth fantasy, not a history.
This books covers the breadth of 150 years of world history through the eyes of one family: the Cartiers. They saw the rise and fall of empires, revolutions, depressions, two world wars, swinging sixties and so much more. The family survived four generations of company ownership by investing in one another and adapting to the ever-changing world. Brickell does a fantastic job writing essentially her family history, the only short coming is pictures. Poorly placed with little to no descriptions. I wanted a little more depth. To be sure the Duchess of Windsor is in fact wearing a Tutti Fruiti necklace.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Interesting and enjoyable book about the Cartier family up until the final location was sold. I enjoyed looking into the lives of such an artistic and celebrated family.
This is beyond comprehensive when it comes to giving details and setting up each era and big event within the Cartier history. You can tell that it was written by a member of the family because all the negative things about family members get a bit glossed over or not even mentioned, but that's a minor detail compared to how well researched and presented it is.
Cartier Brickell really went all-in when it came to fully showcase everything that the founders went through to create a brand that is truly synonymous with luxury even 50 years after it was sold off to outsiders. I hadn't really considered the connection, but luxury brands really lived and died with the great wealth of now gone dynasties and legendary millionaires. It's a bit like you're getting a quick history lesson along with the story of Cartier. Extra knowledge is always a plus when reading.
The only reason I'm giving it four stars instead of five is that I really wish there were even tiny pictures of some of the big-ticket or iconic pieces. It took me forever to read this because I kept getting lost in a maze of Google searches and Wikipedia articles. On the positive side of that, I learned a lot about history and rich people from the beginning of the 20th century.
Mandatory note: I got my copy through GoodReads' First Reads.
Cartier Brickell really went all-in when it came to fully showcase everything that the founders went through to create a brand that is truly synonymous with luxury even 50 years after it was sold off to outsiders. I hadn't really considered the connection, but luxury brands really lived and died with the great wealth of now gone dynasties and legendary millionaires. It's a bit like you're getting a quick history lesson along with the story of Cartier. Extra knowledge is always a plus when reading.
The only reason I'm giving it four stars instead of five is that I really wish there were even tiny pictures of some of the big-ticket or iconic pieces. It took me forever to read this because I kept getting lost in a maze of Google searches and Wikipedia articles. On the positive side of that, I learned a lot about history and rich people from the beginning of the 20th century.
Mandatory note: I got my copy through GoodReads' First Reads.