Crimson & Emerald & Black

Crimson is the Cartier red box — the deep vivid crimson of the most immediately recognizable luxury packaging in the world. The Cartier red box (boîte rouge Cartier — French) is the signature packaging used by Cartier for all its jewelry and watch presentations: a precisely constructed red lacquered box (in sizes from the tiniest ring box to the largest necklace presentation case), with the 'Cartier' name in gold lettering on the lid, lined internally with cream or white satin or velvet. The specific red: the Cartier red is a deeply saturated crimson-to-scarlet — approximately Pantone 186 C in the most formal specifications — a very specific, consistent, deeply saturated red that has remained essentially unchanged throughout Cartier's modern history. The history of Cartier: Louis-François Cartier (1819-1904) took over a Parisian jewelry workshop at 31 rue Montorgueil in 1847 — the workshop had been established in 1819 by Adolphe Picard, under whom Louis-François had trained. His grandson Louis Cartier (1875-1942) is considered the most creatively significant Cartier, responsible for the most celebrated jewelry designs (particularly the Panther/Panthère motif, the Trinity ring, and the Tank watch). The Cartier brothers: Louis Cartier (Paris), Pierre Cartier (New York — who opened the iconic Fifth Avenue store in exchange for a double-strand natural pearl necklace valued at $1 million in 1917), and Jacques Cartier (London — who traveled extensively in India and established Cartier's most important maharajah clientele). Emerald is the Tutti Frutti — the vivid jewel-green of the emeralds in Cartier's most celebrated jewelry line, the 'Tutti Frutti' series. Tutti Frutti (Italian: 'all fruits' — referring to the colorful variety of carved gemstones used in these pieces) was a style of jewelry developed by Cartier in the 1920s-1930s, inspired by Mughal Indian jewelry traditions (specifically the technique of carving precious gemstones — emeralds, rubies, and sapphires — into leaf, flower, and fruit shapes for inlay into gold jewelry — a technique called jadau or kundan in Mughal goldsmithing). The Cartier Tutti Frutti pieces are characterized by: richly colored carved emeralds (vivid jewel-green), carved rubies (deep red-to-crimson), and carved sapphires (deep blue), all set in platinum-and-diamond Art Deco settings with an overall impression of riotous, jewel-filled color. Key Tutti Frutti pieces: the 'Jacqueline de Ribes' necklace (1936); the 'Duchess of Windsor' bracelet; and numerous pieces commissioned by Indian maharajas and maharanis through Cartier's London office (Jacques Cartier's Indian clientele included the Maharajas of Patiala, Nawanagar, and Baroda — who brought their family jewels to Cartier for resetting in the most current European style). The most celebrated Tutti Frutti emerald: the 'Mogul' emerald (Cartier — the most celebrated single Mughal emerald in private hands — a 217.80-carat rectangular emerald engraved with Islamic calligraphy on one face and a floral arabesque on the other, set by Cartier in a pendant at the request of an anonymous client, sold at Christie's auction in October 2001 for approximately $2.2 million). Black is the velvet display — the pure black of the black velvet jewelry display cushions and black velvet presentation trays used by Cartier (and virtually all other haute joaillerie houses) to display their most precious pieces. The function of black velvet in jewelry display: (1) maximum luminance contrast — pure black has zero luminance, creating the maximum possible luminance contrast against the vivid colors of gemstones (particularly against the vivid emerald-green, deep crimson-red, and brilliant white of diamonds); (2) texture contrast — the soft, matte texture of velvet contrasts maximally with the hard, brilliant, reflective surface of polished gemstones and precious metals; (3) color neutrality — pure black has zero hue influence on the perceived color of the gems displayed against it (unlike white or cream, which slightly shift the perceived hue of adjacent colors through simultaneous contrast); (4) prestige association — the use of black velvet for jewelry display has been the universal standard in haute joaillerie since at least the 18th century, creating a deeply ingrained cultural association between black velvet and the most precious objects.