"first" viewing of cartier and america...

back in december i had posted about the recent arrival of cartier to san francisco in "did someone say cartier?"...this week i finally got to view it first hand...les sigh...

where do i start? being surrounded by such beauty...and massive baubles can make any girls heart beat a little faster...i was going to write about my favorites...but in all honesty...there were too many...

i have added this book to my designer collection...i love looking at all the pretty pictures...and remembering them in all their glory...



so what pieces stuck out for me? one would have to be the mystery clocks...the hands made of platinum and diamonds...appear to float around the dial with no apparent mechanism...simply genius...

grace kellys wedding ring was...well...there are no words...it was simply stunning...in all its brilliance...

and the one piece that both adena & i loved...was the panther bracelet...made of diamonds, onyx, emeralds and platinum...sold to wallis warfield, duchess of windsor...it is articulated in sections so it can be wrapped around the wrist and the head can even be turned...beautiful!

speaking of sections...it amazed me how many of the pieces were made to be worn several ways...a necklace that could be separated and worn as bracelets and brooches...

all i know...is that i will most likely be going back to view the exhibit again before its debut ends in april...if you are not able to see this in person...the link above to my december post has a view to see the collection...of course it is not the same as seeing it in person...but a nice show...none the less...

not only was the exhibit beautiful...but the legion of honor is a spectacular view as well...took some pics...since i obviously couldn't take pics of the baubles... =)

adena & i in front of the legion of honor


view of the city


surrounded by lush green


if you look closely...you can see a peak of the golden gate bridge...see it?


gorgeous flowers in front of the legion of honor

did someone say cartier?

quality is timeless...cartier, the king of jewelers is timeless...

on december 19, cartier and america opened exclusively at the legion of honor. exhibition will be open thru april 18, 2010...if you are in the san francisco area...i believe you will get a rare treat and the opportunity to peer back through time...

want a sneak peak?? view the legion of honor flickr photos...

here are some articles from san francisco papers touting this rare appearance:
cartier and america at the legion by: nancy ewart
"cartier and america" gems about social history by: bertrand pellegrin

"The exhibition covers the history of the House of Cartier from its first great successes as the “king of jewelers and jeweler to kings” during the Belle Epoque through the 1960s and 1970s, when Cartier supplied celebrities of the day with their jewels and luxury accessories. Derived mainly from the private Cartier Collection housed in Geneva, the spectacular array of more than 200 objects includes jewelry of the Gilded Age and Art Deco periods, as well as freestanding works of art such as the famous Mystery Clocks. Cartier and America concentrates on pieces owned by Americans, including a pair of rock crystal and diamond bracelets worn by Gloria Swanson in the movie Sunset Boulevard and Daisy Fellowes’s famous “Tutti Frutti” necklace." legion of honor...