Cartier and Cinema at the Venice International Film Festival – Biennale Cinema 2022

Cartier at the Bones and All Screening at the 79th Annual Venice International Film Festival

Melanie Laurent (left) and Bianca Brandolino wearing Cartier at the Venice Film Festival

Cartier and the world of films form an inextricable connection that has merely strengthened through time, from decade to decade, from one iconic presence to another.

As recent as 2021 was Cartier’s  official partnership with the Venice International Film Festival-Biennale Cinema 2022—part of Cartier’s cultural commitments to the arts, more particularly, cinema. Through this, Cartier demonstrates its sensitivity to contemporary creation and to today’s film industry.

Cartier Glory to the filmmaker trophy (Photo by Franck Wils)

The history of Cartier is intimately linked to that of the arts, particularly cinema. In 1926, Cartier appeared on the screen in the film The Son of the Sheik by G. Fitzmaurice, with legendary actor Rudolph Valentino on the title role. He was the one who convinced the director to let him wear his Tank watch.

Others followed, and the legend took hold. In Paris, in 1946, Jean Cocteau called on Cartier to make Josette Day cry diamond tears in Beauty and the Beast. In Hollywood, in 1950, Gloria Swanson lit up the screen in Sunset Boulevard by B. Wilder, adorned with two spectacular diamond and rock crystal bracelets.

Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco’s Cartier engagement ring made up of one emerald-cut diamond (10.48 carats), two baguette-cut diamonds.  Photo credit: Vincent Wulveryck, Courtesy Palais Princier de Monaco

Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco’s Cartier engagement ring made up of one emerald-cut diamond (10.48 carats), two baguette-cut diamonds.  Photo credit: Vincent Wulveryck, Courtesy Palais Princier de Monaco

Film after film, the stories intertwine, those of Cartier and of its clientele, whether it be Grace Kelly who wore, in her last screen appearance in High Society, the ring that Prince Rainier gave her. Or the Mexican actress María Félix, known for her extravagant style, dressed in a landmark crocodile necklace.

The Cartier Toussaint Necklace in the film ‘Ocean’s 8’

The Toussaint necklace replica for the film ‘Ocean’s 8’ from the Cartier Collection (Photo credit: Marian Gerard, Collection Carter)

Some of these jewelled testimonials are now part of the Cartier Collection and will be exhibited in Venice from 30th August to 11th September, on the occasion of the Venice International Film Festival – Biennale Cinema 2022. Created in 1983, the Cartier Collection is made up of approximately 3,500 pieces dating from the 1860s to the 2000s and constitutes a unique testimony to the history of the Maison’s style and creativity. This pioneering collection has since been hosted by more than thirty renowned institutions around the world for major monographic exhibitions.

Cartier supports the Venice Film Festival for the second consecutive year.