In 1847, Louis-François Cartier opened a modest jewelry workshop in Paris where he sold crystal bracelets, strands of pearls and brooches with floral motifs. In 1914, Louis Cartier met Jeanne Toussaint, the Belgian French style icon who would become his muse and rumored lover. Often immaculately dressed in her signature turban and silk pajamas, she captivated Cartier, who recruited her to oversee the house’s handbags and silver accessories. When Toussaint was appointed the creative director of the brand’s jewelry department in 1933, she, too, found unlikely inspiration in utilitarian objects: gas hoses, bolts and even handcuffs. Now, Cartier is revisiting Toussaint’s archival designs in the form of a ring topped with an 8.92-carat cabochon-cut emerald encircled by rounded onyx, diamonds and turquoise accents.

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Persons: Louis, François Cartier, Louis Cartier, Santos pilot’s, Jeanne Toussaint, immaculately, Cartier, Toussaint, Elise Lebaindre Locations: Paris, Brazilian, Belgian French