Pre-owned Cartier

Fallen Luxury is an independent reseller of authenticated pre-owned pieces and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Cartier.

A Parisian jeweler and watchmaker founded in 1847, famed for the Love bracelet, the Santos watch, and its storied jeweler-of-kings heritage.

About Cartier

Louis-François Cartier took over his master's Paris jewellery workshop in 1847, laying the foundation for a house that would go on to serve European royalty so consistently that King Edward VII coined its enduring epithet in 1904: "the jeweller of kings, the king of jewellers."

Cartier flagship illuminated with panther light installations

Cartier's panther motif, lit up across its own flagship — a signature that dates back to 1914.

Key Points

1847

Founded in Paris

1904

"Jeweller of Kings"

1969

The Love bracelet

Richemont

Part of the group

1847

Louis-François Cartier takes over his master's Paris workshop.

1904

Cartier creates the Santos — among the first wristwatches made for men.

1914

The panther motif appears for the first time, in a jewelled wristwatch.

1917

The Tank watch launches, inspired by the silhouette of WWI armoured tanks.

1969

Designer Aldo Cipullo creates the Love bracelet, fastened with a tiny screwdriver.

The Santos

A watch made for a man who couldn't let go

Pioneer aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont told his friend Louis Cartier he couldn't check a pocket watch mid-flight without taking a hand off the controls. Cartier's answer, in 1904, strapped a watch to the wrist instead — one of the earliest wristwatches made for men, at a time when they were considered a woman's accessory.

Panthère de Cartier

The house's longest-running signature

First used in a 1914 wristwatch and later brought fully to life by Jeanne Toussaint — Cartier's director of fine jewellery, nicknamed "the Panther" — the motif has appeared on watches, jewellery, and even the walls of Cartier boutiques ever since, making it one of the longest-running emblems in fine jewellery.

Now part of the Richemont group, Cartier still designs around the same instincts that built its reputation with European royalty — precise craftsmanship, and a small number of ideas, like the Love bracelet and the panther, refined rather than replaced for over a century.