The Victoria and Albert Museum is currently hosting an extensive Cartier exhibit. The curator and owner of Classic Facets, had the great pleasure of recently visiting this exhibit to fully experience the Cartier jewels. Some of the pieces were exhibited in Denver in 2014, however we saw a fraction of the amount of inventory that is currently on display in Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London.
Some of the most interesting items were the jewels rarely ever seen, including the collection of 'Mystery Clocks', where the actual mechanics of the timekeeping is kept a tightly held secret. The hands appear to float, but actually don't. They are 'tickless' but rather operate on quartz crystals, and have unusual faces with inlaid gemstones.
To understand the luxury craftsmanship of Cartier, watching the video of the making of the Cartier panther is incredibly informative. Each piece of onyx was individually cut for every panther made.
The Tiara room is also one of her favorite features There are mirrors installed so the viewer can see the piece in its entirety.
This exhibit gets a five star review from our owner, Theresa Peregoy, who is an appraiser, gemologist and jewelry historian.