The Great Gatsby was published 100 years ago. As a tribute to this great American novel, we will shed light on a lesser-known aspect of the 1974 film adaptation. The use of original Cartier jewellery in the production marked the beginning of the modern history of jewellery.
In the early 1970s, word leaked out that Paramount Pictures was going to remake The Great Gatsby. This caused a frenzy. All the top Hollywood actors wanted the lead roles of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. At the time, F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece was part of the craze for the Jazz Age.
The cultural revival began to heat up in 1968. When historian Bevis Hillier published the first major contemporary work on Art Deco, it extended to Cartier. In New York, the company had begun to acquire its jewelry by this time. Thus securing the position of the collectors who owned them.
The jewellery that was collected became known as the Cartier Collection in 1983. These treasures, and many others, would go on to be the subject of more than 35 exhibitions for Cartier. And there would be more to come, in major museums around the world. For now, the Cartier collection forms the basis of the «Cartier» exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
But back in 1974. An interest in Cartier Art Deco jewelry at the company's New York branch made her the perfect jeweler for the original production accessories. With Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby and Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan.
From the very first scene, the privileged lives of Daisy Buchanan, the love interest of Jay Gatsby, and her friend Jordan Baker, played by Lois Childs, are clear. On a warm late summer afternoon, they hang out at the Long Island mansion wearing exquisite Cartier jewelry.
Jordan wears a stunning Cartier sautoir with pearls and emerald beads. As well as a large, carved brooch with emeralds and diamonds.
Daisy's jewelry includes a delicate diamond choker and large diamond pendant earrings. Still a delicate brooch with diamond circle circles and a pearl chain. But also a huge diamond engagement ring in the shape of a marquee.
This first look was immortalized in popular culture. Mia Farrow wore it on the cover of the first issue of People, published on March 4, 1974. This cover highlights the excitement for the film and the Art Deco movement. No surprise: the production's costume designer, Theoni V. Aldredge, subsequently won an Oscar for her work.
In an early scene, when Jay Gatsby meets Daisy on the lawn, where she is sipping champagne and wearing an ensemble of beige chiffon, she is adorned with pearls, interspersed with small black discs of onyx and coral, reminiscent of the gems on the brooch with the parrots on her shoulder, which behave like lovebirds. Apparently, it's a metaphor for the couple's romance.
The jewel, made by Cartier in New York in 1928, is composed of rubies, onyx, diamonds and platinum.
Daisy also has a small Cartier Art Deco gold and gemstone Cartier Art Deco bag on stage. Both pieces are featured in the first Cartier monograph written by Hans Nadelhoffer in 1987.
The book is dedicated to Ralph Esmerian, who owned many of the jewels in the publication as well as the jewels featured in the film.
One of the most striking Art Deco designs in the film is worn by Jordan when everyone goes to New York for a night on the town.
It is a pearl tassel necklace with carved emerald accents and an 86.71-carat carved emerald in the center, made by Cartier in New York around 1925.
Two years after the film's release, the first Cartier Art Deco exhibition was held at the Fifth Avenue Mansion in New York. Several of the jewels from the film were featured in the critically acclaimed presentation that included 150 pieces of jewelry, watches and objects.
A portion of the proceeds from the publication for the report benefited the American Cancer Society. Princess Grace, in her capacity as honorary chair of the International Committee, wrote in her introduction to the list: «I am confident that this exhibition will prove to be a great success, as it will bring joy to those who love exceptional design and appreciate the great craftsmanship that Louis Cartier embodied through his long and productive career.».
A photograph of Princess Yasmin Aly Kahn, daughter of Rita Hayworth, looking at objects in the exhibition was published in the New York Times. Other celebrities attending the opening included Nan Kempner, Lyn Revson, Pat Buckley, Amanda Burden, Mary Lou Whitney, Doris Duke, Mica Ertegan and Helene Rochas.
The popularity of the presentation and the numerous others that followed over the years have long ensured Cartier's position as the preeminent jeweller of the Art Deco era. However, no exhibition has ever captured exactly how jewelry was worn during the tumultuous 1920s like the 1974 production of The Great Gatsby.
Source: marionfasel.substack.com
