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In an imaginative move, Cartier has opted for the historical city of Vienna, renowned for its art, music and cultural heritage, to unveil the maison’s new high jewellery collection.
The Austrian capital has been on Cartier’s radar for some time, says president and chief executive Cyrille Vigneron, speaking to Vogue Business over Teams. “In Europe, what cities have charm and cachet but at the same time are not too well known?” he asks. “Vienna has a magnificent historical and artistic heritage that is little known — plus, it has an international airport making it pretty easy to access globally.”
Some 400 clients are flying into Vienna over the next two weeks to see (and buy) the ‘Nature Sauvage’ high jewellery collection, which is being displayed at Kursalon Hübner, a music hall built in the 1860s and designed in the style of an Italian Renaissance pavilion.
Arnaud Carrez, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Cartier, calls Vienna “an absolutely fantastic playground for art and culture”, with all sorts of options for custom-made experiences for clients (the press trip alone included a private visit to the crown jewels and welcome cocktail at the Kunsthistorisches Museum). “We waited before hosting a high jewellery event in Vienna for two main reasons: we really wanted the quality of the hotels to be top notch and several hotels have just been renovated or opened. And we’ve just renovated our Vienna boutique [by interior designer Laura Gonzalez],” he says.
This is a big moment for Cartier, the world’s largest jewellery brand. The collection on display features 87 pieces including the sculptural necklace Panthère des Glaces, with rock crystal and plenty of diamonds; the Panthère Jaillissante bracelet ring, with a sugarloaf emerald from Zambia; and the Koaga necklace, with pear-shaped rubellite. Also part of the presentation is a room dedicated to Cartier Tradition, showcasing archive pieces, and a space for special orders, where clients can buy exceptional stones and develop a unique piece directly with Cartier. A second showcase is planned for later this year in Shanghai with additional pieces (the full collection totals 200).
Nature Sauvage is the result of some 50,000 hours of work. Vigneron personally signs off every studio drawing before pieces are developed and produced. He tried on the prototype Panthère Jaillissante. “It’s not that heavy and it gives you a feeling of confidence,” he says, enthusiastically. “You become invulnerable.”
High jewellery sustains momentum
Richemont-owned Cartier generated €10.5 billion in sales in fiscal year 2024, per Morgan Stanley estimates, making it the world’s largest jeweller. High jewellery represented around 10 per cent of the house’s sales, according to Morgan Stanley (parent company Richemont doesn’t break down figures for its jewellery maisons).
The pace of growth is delighting executives at Cartier. “High jewellery is growing faster than our average growth rate, so it’s one of the most buoyant sectors in jewellery and in luxury goods as a whole at the moment,” says Vigneron. “It’s growing fast not only for the traditional jewellers like us but also for the fashion houses that have developed a very serious high jewellery business.” He notes a trend for younger clients, coming from multiple markets including the Middle East, Thailand, Australia, South Korea and Japan.
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Vigneron has led Cartier since 2016, an eight-year period during which the brand’s sales have more than doubled, Morgan Stanley estimates. Cartier is upping production capacities accordingly. After opening a jewellery unit in Italy’s Turin last year, producing twice as much as the previous manufacture, a second production unit — or “little sister”, as Vigneron puts it — is following this year in the Italian commune of Valenza with further plans to increase capacities for fine jewellery, high jewellery and watches.
“What’s new in the relationship with the luxury customer is that when certain models are in demand, they can be in demand in a very, very strong way,” says Vigneron. “The Baignoire gold bangle watch was in much greater demand than all the other Baignoire. Compared to our initial estimates, we were looking at times 10. It takes a few months to adapt our production capacity.”
Richemont’s structure remains in flux, with a management reshuffle led by the appointment, effective from 1 June, of a group CEO — the first in eight years. The role is being taken up by Nicholas Bos, previously chief executive of Richemont-owned Van Cleef Arpels. “The appointment of Nicolas Bos is a wonderful recognition of the jewellery houses’ contribution to the group’s value creation,” Vigneron says.
How is the summer sales period shaping up? During the Richemont earnings media call earlier in May, Vigneron explained that retail sales in Paris might slow during the Olympics (this has been the experience of other cities hosting the games, including London). Could that benefit sales in Vienna? “There are naturally already quite a few customers who come from Central Europe in the summer, particularly from the Middle East, to Munich, Vienna or Berlin. I think we’ll be seeing a lot of them this summer.”
Meanwhile, the fashion and celebrity set are enjoying their Austrian excursion. Sofia Coppola and Elle Fanning were among guests at a prestige show staged by Cartier at the MAK (Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts) on Tuesday. They sat front row, where models wore high jewellery pieces and outfits by designer Jonathan Ailwood. There followed a gala dinner and performance by British singer Raye. “Vienna is a beautiful city,” Coppola told Vogue Business, “I am really happy to be here and discover so many beautiful places and enjoy some schnitzel.”
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