Love declared with Cartier

At Cartier, love has reigned supreme over legendary couples and creations for more than 160 years: Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor…

A gallery of glamour that features the most extravagant and the most legitimate jewels. For there are so many ways of saying “yes”, so many rings to give, from the cleanest cuts to the most ornate, from a simple band to a bespoke creation that speaks of a dream come true. All belong to a heartfelt commitment to the love of fine craftsmanship – the commitment of a master jeweller who is intransigent about quality and certifies every stage of the industry. For Cartier, ethics are a serious matter.

When it comes to engagements, Cartier is there for the better. This is its signature, as a trusted witness whose presence is subtly invited throughout, like a secret bond, a promise for the future that is revealed in that little red box that spells love. This journal dedicated to Cartier fiancés proposes an engagement with the world – princes and princesses, lady and gentleman, him and her, from Paris to Seoul and anywhere that people are in love, however that may be, but always with diamonds!

RING OF DREAMS

It appeals to grace, this solitaire whose roundness and delicacy capture all the light. A resplendent hymn to love whose diamond crystallizes the promise to come. The natural is there in the vibrant verity of a stone ringed by an aura of brilliants, a luminous, radiant frieze, like a declaration spontaneously offered, buoyant and gifted for life.

Introducing the very latest solitaire by Cartier, a ring that brims like a chalice, to be admired from the front or in profile, where it reveals its crafted subtleties, a staggered coronet setting, a spiral of platinum that rises in a pyramid to the central stone. A ring that is a world, symbolised by a circle, a pledge of eternity that focuses all the fire of an utterly manifest love. A new interpretation of the timeless solitaire, in which Cartier shifts the tempo and creates a
unique allure.

A RING, A STYLE

The ultimate in style, each Cartier Solitaire is more creative and imaginative than the next. A multiple repertoire of forms and settings expressed through a true language of jewellery, signed by Cartier. Love befits and becomes these solitaires, each of which, through its own special
design, can tell a different story every time.

Solitaire 1895: once upon a time, an absolute message for ever. It sports the classic lines of a timeless style inherited from Cartier’s longstanding jewellery tradition. A dream from the atelier which takes care to capture the light and magnify the diamond in its pure, delicate setting, a model of sublime classicism. A historical solitaire dating from the late nineteenth century, whose exemplary simplicity is destined to celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime oath, to seal the eternity of a message of love.

Ballerine: love is like dance, the language of the soul. A solitaire that tells of a beloved pas de deux, two souls interlacing in the leap of life. Grace is present through the delicate floral setting, a movement that unfurls with the romantic poise of a ballerina, the sweet, classic purity of love.

Déclaration: the expression of what matters. The Déclaration solitaire goes straight to the essence: a clean, pure band, a diamond, four profiled claws. Feelings bared, the imperious, direct expression of a state of love that is simply declared.

CREATE AN ENGAGEMENT RING TOGETHER AND WATCH AS IT TAKES FORM

Choosing “her” ring, saying “yes” in Cartier style, a beautiful token, the authenticity of a declaration, of certified love. This is what Cartier is offering, in true jeweller tradition, by creating a ring to match each person’s dreams. A spoken promise that makes it possible to create your very own
solitaire in just a few weeks.

A veritable gem of a workshop in which you personally choose among seven exceptional settings to be set with a round diamond, whose weight runs from 0.18 to 1.99 carats. Creative combinations make this an emotional moment to treasure, with precious stones that meet Cartier’s strictest criteria.

Beauty, excellence, light and shape guide the experts in selecting these diamonds, whose fire, brilliance and increment of wonder herald the very best: solitaires individually cut to suit a ring that is hand-picked and carefully invented each time. Choose from the highly refined, platinum-wire body of the Déclaration ring, the diamond-paved scrolls around the floral setting of the Ballerine ring, or the stunning simplicity of the Solitaire 1895.

A dream for two, his and hers, between you and the jeweller, the diamond and the setting, the ring and Cartier.

C FOR CHARISMA

There are outward signs that form a signature style, and then there is everything that goes unseen, which ultimately makes all the difference…

Cartier dedication is measured by stringent requirements in choosing diamonds that meet with strict selection criteria. And all Cartier diamonds possess the 5th C, the Charisma of soul.
The diamond in each Cartier solitaire has been certified by the GIA (Gemological Institute of America), an independent international organization that is a reference in diamond certification. The GIA certificate guarantees the utmost quality of the diamonds; it defines the diamond
standard that follows the “4Cs” (Carat, Colour, Clarity and Cut). Among them, Cartier chooses only the whitest diamonds, totally pure, with no inclusions visible to the naked eye and perfect proportions that add to its sparkle.

While the 4Cs indicate how rare a diamond is, they in no way guarantee its beauty. Indeed, many diamonds that fit the 4C standards do not meet the selection criteria defined by the House of Cartier. Our diamond experts are the only specialists entitled to select Cartier diamonds, chosen for that special something they contain, the potency, the magic, the power that portrays their personality.

ENGAGEMENTS AROUND THE WORLD

All over the world, the ring is the seal of love between fiancés that holds the promise of joy to come.

JE T’AIME
The ring, often a family jewel. In France, the ring – be it a family jewel or a new purchase – is the heart of the engagement celebration. Sometimes the fiancé’s parents will offer the stone and the couple will choose the setting. Or the fiancée may be given a family jewel that now has a rather outdated setting. She will ask her future parents-in-law for authorisation to have it altered. Whatever the scenario, it always leads to a jeweller. No doubt about it: in France we like originality, the ring that no-one else owns and custom designs whose drawings are cherished for ever: they are kept with the ring, like a wedding certificate.

I LOVE YOU
Surprise and romanticism. In the United States, the man chooses a special place, such as a dinner or a romantic location, to surprise the woman he loves by proposing. It is customary for him to drop to one knee and offer the ring while asking her to marry him.

In general, the man chooses a ring that perfectly matches his fiancée’s taste and style, but sometimes the couple choose together. While most tend to prefer a diamond set in platinum, some choose other precious gems, such as sapphires, yellow diamonds or emeralds, set in 18-carat yellow or white gold. As soon as the engagement is announced, the families are informed and wedding preparations rapidly get under way. The wedding rings are chosen later, by the two fiancés together, and generally match the engagement ring.

TI AMO
The ring, a mutual promise. In Italy, tradition holds that an engagement be celebrated during an official ceremony in the presence of both families. The ring is both the symbol and the seal of the promise to marry; the jewel (either the stone that will be set or a ring already set with a stone) is preferably offered by the groom’s family. In 21st-century Italy, however, this custom has all but disappeared. Engagements are rarely rendered official during a family lunch. Nevertheless, the custom of offering a ring still holds, with the future groom presenting it to his fiancée in private, an informal and often extremely romantic occasion.

ICH LIEBE DICH
To make the moment perfect. In Germany, traditionally, the man officially asks the young lady’s father for her hand. Once the father has given his blessing, the wedding can go ahead. The most beautiful moment in many women’s lives is when the man kneels before her, holding in his hand the jewel box that contains the engagement ring. Choosing the ring is capital and the man’s responsibility. In the past, the claw setting was favoured, but nowadays more classical variations, such as a simple band, are very much in vogue. Together, the couple choose the wedding rings – which are worn on the right hand by Protestants and the left hand by Catholics – and then generally pay a visit to the jeweller within a year of the engagement.

Jewels, the everlasting symbols of nuptial finery. In the UAE, the marriage proposal is an unchanged ritual. The groom-to-be and his family request a meeting with the family of the young woman to ask for her hand in marriage. The two families agree on the dowry to be given to the bride, which will go towards preparations for the religious ceremony, the jewellery that needs to be purchased and the wedding itself. To choose the jewellery that the bride will wear at the religious ceremony, she and her mother will generally go to the gold souks or else to the jeweller’s. While the mother of the bride tends to favour gold, due to its symbolic value, the bride often opts for diamonds, which are seen to be more modern. Coloured precious stones, notably rubies, are also much sought-after, since they add a touch of magnificence to the adornments. For Emirati brides, the ruby is a sign of nobility and elegance. Sometimes the bride also buys the wedding ring for her husband. The wedding rings and jewellery are exchanged during the religious ceremony. The full jewellery set (necklace, watch, ring and matching earrings) is presented on decorated platters to be admired by the family and the wedding guests, before the groom adorns his wife.

Σ ’ΑΓΑΠΩ
A very official engagement. According to Greek tradition – which is now tending to die out, especially in cities – before officially proposing to his beloved, the young man must first request permission for her hand from her father. Once the proposal has been accepted, the couple visit a priest to have the engagement ring blessed. The guests wish them “Kala stephana” (“Happy crowns”, meaning “Have a happy marriage”) and “I ora I kali” (“A happy life”). In the past, an engagement was an obligatory step before marriage and the engagement ring was also the wedding band. Today, a marriage proposal is accompanied by an engagement ring set with a diamond that the woman wears on her left hand to symbolise her commitment and future union.

Я ЛЮБЛЮ ТЕБЯ
A return to traditions. In Russia, engagement celebrations, which ceased with the 1917 revolution, returned to favour a few years ago. To mark the engagement, the fiancé sometimes offers his loved one the ring during a meeting between the two families and the presentation to the parents, which generally takes place during a private dinner. The groom-to-be can also offer his fiancée a ring when he officially asks for her hand. In this case, he will choose the ring. But sometimes the future spouses choose both the engagement ring and the wedding rings together. Nowadays, young couples prefer a ring bought for the occasion, which will mark the beginning of their own family history. On the wedding day, the spouses exchange a simpler wedding band, used for the civil and religious ceremonies.

당신을 사랑합니다
From the dress to the honeymoon, weddings are their business. In Korea, wedding planning and dress design companies are key players in the market. They organise the songs for the ceremony, offer photo and make-up sessions, the traditional Korean clothing for the presentation to the in-laws, and arrange the honeymoon. First founded in the late 1990s, they have since grown, becoming more industrialised and uniform. Almost 500 companies currently specialise in weddings in Korea. As in most countries, Koreans use rings set with diamonds for their wedding.

Cartier’s commitments reach far beyond diamonds to three key
areas – ethical, social and environmental performance – and apply to every
one of the House of Cartier’s product lines.