I’ve had a very romantic notion of Cartier ever since I learned about the history of the Tank wristwatch at my first Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva. Then there were the stories about the dreamy proposals staff witnessed amidst the engagement and wedding jewellery at the famous Parisian boutique at 13 Rue de la Paix.
Standing in the time-honoured space of ‘13 Paix’, which reopened to the public on Friday, 28 October 2022 after a lengthy renovation, is an unforgettable experience.
Atrium at 13 Paix
Unexpected discoveries
“The number 13 is associated with eternity, and this place is timeless to its core, like the jewellery creations shaped from stones forged within the earth over millions of years,” says Cyrille Vigneron, president and CEO of Cartier International. “An abundance of space and light, a place of life and encounters, of creation and imagination, the new No. 13 invites us on a journey of new and unexpected discoveries. Its thoughtful architecture, prioritizing substance over form and appearance, is the ultimate showcase for the most precious jewels and the setting for the most romantic stories.”
The façade of the sanctum of Louis Cartier and Jeanne Toussaint, nicknamed La Panthere, retains the elegant style embodied in the black and gold identity introduced when the boutique opened in 1899. Ground-breaking at a time when most storefronts were crafted from wood or painted, the black marble facade veined with golden-yellow pyrite highlights the shimmering diamonds in the windows and magnifies the classicism Louis Cartier loved.
Art Deco Salon
Timeless creative identity
Three interior architects and decorators the Maison had worked with previously were commissioned to envision a place “that lives and breathes a timeless creative identity.” Moinard Betaille contributed to the showroom and sales area, Studioparisien to customer services, the archives, and the high jewellery ateliers, and Laura Gonzalez to the exclusive top-floor apartment named “La Residence”.
Betaille has subtly upgraded the polished brass that once framed the windows with pale bronze and filled the interior with soothing tones of ivory, blond wood, powdered gold, pearly white and champagne. Brass rays of a floor mosaic in the reception area acknowledge a Cartier Art Deco motif, and tendrils of light filter in from the street to rest on the classic sculpted vases and garlands of the refinished original woodwork.
From the Cartier menagerie
Cartier style
The finishings on the upper floors are sculpted, engraved, weathered, or inlaid. Each salon on the third floor celebrates the Cartier style from the Indian salon with its embroidery-effect walls and large tiger mosaic by Atelier Lilikpo to the Art Deco salon.
The high jewellery ateliers and archives on the fourth and fifth floors are both enticing and functional, while the sixth-floor attic space for La Residence delivers on Gonzalez’ vision of “a poetic and dreamlike decor, as if one were floating in the clouds.”
13 Paix features precious ideas throughout the building to the extent that visitors may miss the nuances of the materials, colours, furnishings, lighting, and artworks at first glance. “We wanted a visit to these spaces to be an enticement to come back,” said Moinard. “To come back again, each time savouring new surprises and delights.”
Salon Louis Cartier
Louis Cartier salon
My favourite is the Louis Cartier salon. Contemporary furnishings mingle with large volumes of books he inherited from his father and grandfather, illustrated works on the decorative arts of France, the Maghreb, and the Middle and Far East that inspired the Cartier creations, and eye-catching geodes and crystals. A gravity clock circa 1910 on permanent loan from the Cartier Collection is also a feature.
The unveiling of the new boutique is celebrated with an exclusive collection crowned by seven high jewellery ensembles that honour themes dear to Cartier.
