PLATINUM

Platinum and diamonds in perfect harmony.

Each shares its most precious characteristic with the other: the sparkle, lightness and strength of the metal; the purity, fire and emotion of the stone. Together they create an ethereal piece of jewellery with incomparable delicacy and grace.

It is a perfect love story, started by Louis Cartier who pioneered the use of this precious alloy at the end of the 19th century.

A DIAMOND'S BEST FRIEND

Platinum is a rare metal with highly valuable properties. Alloyed with just 5% of other metals (compared to 25% for gold), its purity gives it a white sheen that never tarnishes. Platinum has a higher density than gold and excellent resistance to wear, making it an ideal, safe setting for gemstones.

But its principal quality is its great ductility: a single gram of platinum can be drawn into an extremely thin wire two kilometres long.

Cartier has been working in platinum with great finesse since the end of the 19th century, producing mounts and settings that are both light and strong like fine lace of precious metal that augments the sparkle of the diamond.

CARTIER AND PLATINUM

From 1860 Louis Cartier was one of the few to show interest in the latest research on platinum. He soon started using the metal to create settings that were strong but fine –sometimes almost invisible – that enhanced the diamond.
Discreet platinum presents the full splendour of the stone with all its sparkle. Its fineness made it possible to create extraordinary virtuoso pieces, ethereal designs that Louis Cartier liked to call "embroidery". Before long he was referred to as "the jeweller of kings and king of jewellers."

The brand was the first to use platinum and demonstrate its qualities to the world, often combining the metal with diamonds in a wide range of jewellery creations. First with solitaires then with wedding rings, Cartier drew on the purity and permanence of platinum and diamonds to express the most precious of emotions.

Since then, Cartier has constantly combined platinum and diamonds with incomparable stylistic freedom, elegance and inspiration.