The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Fa Paperback – 8 June 2021

The Cartiers - Book Review.I STUDIED this book vs reading it. Page by page, 600 pages. For me, it was a PhD in Business, Creativity & Philosophy.What I learned:- The AMAZING ability of the Cartier family to find inspiration from what they saw around them. Paris Balcony designs became Cartier's "Garland" style jewels. When Tanks rolled into Paris during WW1, that became the "Tank" watch. Visits to India were the inspiration for "tutti frutti" jewellery (Indian gems had lots of colour) & the lions & panthers gave way to the animal jewellery so famously Cartier.- The HARD HARD HARD work that went into building Cartier. From scratch to becoming a global brand, it took long sea voyages, visits to dangerous countries, appeasing temperamental clients & surviving 2 world wars to become an institution.- The amazing rule "Never Copy. Only Create".- The fact that Cartier brothers would GO to clients to do sales vs clients coming to them. This was a shocker to me but a humble reminder of how sales works!- The shock of the Cartier business being sold by its inheritors to different buyers- Lots of amazing quotes.

Its a simply fabulous book and a must read for anyone interested in jewellery or luxury industry. Very well written and illustrated. One of the best books I have read so far.

Dropped the book halfway, failed to capture and keep the reader in grips. Talks mostly about people involved and has no in-depth message on how they managed to survive world wars etc. very very shallow account of events that needed more attention.Found it boring so dropped it half way, no regrets.

Great read.. well written.