Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images A visitor looks at a jade figure during a preview of "Cartier Treasures" at the Palace Museum.
BEIJING | Through Nov. 22, 346 historical works of Cartier jewelry, timepieces and other objets from Cartier Treasures — King of Jewelers, Jewelers to Kings — are getting the royal treatment in the Forbidden City, otherwise known as the Palace Museum.
Taken from the 1300-plus piece Cartier Collection and displayed in the galleries of the Meridian Gate, the show is being billed as the French jeweler's largest exhibition ever. (The Cartier Collection has previously shown off their goods in London's British Museum, the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among other venues).
The show includes dazzlers like the "Academician's sword," a glitzapallooza of platinum, silver, rubies, ivory, onyx and blue enamel, presented to Jean Cocteau upon his election into the Académie Française in 1955. There's also the crystal "Mystery Clock," which dates from 1923, and, of course, the obligatory tiara: in this case, a platinum, pearl and diamond number from 1908.
Being in China, the show also highlights a number of pieces that prompt the inevitable East-meets-West storyline, including a 1926 clock recalling a traditional Chinese screen and a Taotie animal mask brooch from 1907. Indeed, the history of Western fine and decorative arts is filled with episodes of fascination with the exotic East.
But China recently surpassed the United States to become the world's second-largest luxury goods market. And perhaps more than anything, what this Cartier-sponsored exhibition reinforces is how it is Western brands who are dreaming of China these days.
I'm surprised Cartier even has to try in China at this point — they're huge without having to localize their products that much. But it's good to see an established brand trying something new in such a new market and stepping out of their comfort zone.
It reminds me of the China marketing strategies being used by foreign luxury brands like Rolls Royce — adding flourishes to their products that Chinese buyers find more appealing (//bit.ly/eFAdJ) and even companies like Sotheby's who want to attract even more mainland bidders (//bit.ly/yVH6y).