The appointment with Marie-Laure Cérède, creative director of watches and jewelry at Cartier, takes place in an apartment on the top floor of an elegant building on Avenue Bosquet in Paris. Before climbing you have To with a security guard. The mere presence of this man in black confirms that at the top of this estate, between the Champ de Mars and Les Invalides, there is a secret – or treasure – that must be kept. There are other men in black in the apartment. In one of the rooms with huge windows from which you can see the Eiffel Tower in all its majesty, there is a grand piano and, above it, silver photo frames with photographs of Gary Cooper, Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Jacqueline Bisset. Grace Kelly… It's easy to see that all of these brilliant movie stars wore one of Cartier's most famous pieces on their ring finger: the Trinity ring, three rings intertwined to infinity.
Louis Cartier, grandson of the founder of the House of Cartier, designed the Trinity ring in 1924, thinking of the number three, which has been considered the perfect number since ancient times. The three rings in one, which revolutionized the jewelry business a hundred years ago, referred to Louis and his two brothers Pierre and Jacques, the heirs to the flourishing empire founded by their grandfather, but also to the three stores that the company operated at the time. : in Paris, London and New York. The ring also realized a concept that has become very popular: diversity. Three different elements – a gold-plated gold band, a rose gold band and a white gold band – come together and form a harmonious unit. The Trinity, celebrating the 100th anniversary, has become a symbol of love in all its forms – filial, familial, friendly, marital – and one of the most sought-after models by customers who want to declare their love for someone … or oneself.
“Everyone thinks that Cartier created the Trinity ring for Cocteau, but that's not true,” explains Marie-Laure Cérède, creative director of the brand, who is happy about this “confusion”. Lea Crespi
“In general, every Cartier piece begins with a hand-drawn drawing. In this case, the starting point was an object that already has a lot of history and is already perfect. Because Trinity is perfect: three bands in one and one in three, a tribute to the concept of inclusion,” explains Cérède after welcoming us into one of the small rooms of this Paris apartment. Her new Trinity collection is displayed in front of her: rings, XL bracelets, pendants… The creative director of the house began working on this project two years ago with the idea of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the original line. He made more than 50 prototypes. “I actually lost count of how many attempts we made. We had no obligation to undertake this new collection. If the end result wasn't good or didn't convince us, we wouldn't publish it. However, there was a lot of pressure because we were working with an iconic object,” he admits.
Cérède began her career at Cartier in 2002 and returned to the French house after almost twelve years at Harry Winston. In 2017, she was promoted to the top design position, ultimately responsible for the aesthetics of all Cartier watches and jewelry. He knows the history of the house well and, as he often does, began this new collection with a visit to the archives. “I always come back to them. My responsibilities include having a deep understanding of the brand's heritage. And another part is seeing that heritage with new eyes. “We wanted something new, we didn’t know what, but we wanted something new,” he says.
Actress Romy Schneider and Alain Delon were also fans of the Trinity ring from Cartier.Cartier archive
It is difficult to reinvent the wheel, or rather the circle, but Cérède has done it by playing with sizes, volumes and shapes: larger and maximalist Trinity rings and bracelets, new pendants… The most promising piece is the Trinity Ring in the form of a cushion (Cushion, in English), an almost square ring that breaks with the roundness of the original design, but not with the essence of the three intertwined bands. “It is difficult to find a new form in the world of jewelry. We made a prototype in gold and found that it had the same value as the original design,” he explains. “From an emotional perspective, the three bands that revolve around the finger are the essence of Trinity. People can play with the piece of jewelry on their finger and build a personal bond with it. “That couldn’t be lost.”
Since its founding a hundred years ago, Trinity has been a unisex collection intended for both men and women. Already in the 1930s, personalities such as the decorator Elsie de Wolfe, the actress Kendall Lee and the poet and versatile artist Jean Cocteau wore the three intertwined rings. Cocteau, for example, wore his little finger – sometimes he wore two – and gave his lover, the Apollonian actor Jean Marais, another one with the following dedication: “The first ribbon is for you, the second is for you.” me.” and the third is our love.” “Everyone thinks that Cartier created the Trinity ring for Cocteau, but that's not true,” clarifies Cérède, who is happy about this “confusion.” “I think it is cool. It's already part of history. You see the photos of Cocteau with the ring and have the feeling that you are standing in front of something very innovative, new and fresh. “We wanted to get that back and continue the story,” he says. The new pieces have the modern and genderless touch that luxury buyers demand today. “In fact, at Cartier we never think in terms of gender. I don't think about men or women. If something is very feminine or very masculine, it’s not Cartier,” he says.
Serge Reggiani, Jean Cocteau and Jean Marais in Paris, 1941. PIERRE JAHAN / ROGER VIOLLET / GETTY IMAGES
The idea of this new collection is not to replace old pieces with new ones, but to add another chapter to Trinity's story. “That’s why new jewelry has to work with old jewelry. “You have to work for the mothers who wear the original Trinity and for the new generations who discover this collection,” says the creator. Cartier, a brand founded in 1847, has been reaching younger people through social networks like TikTok and Instagram for years, using new famous faces to serve as ambassadors for the brand. “This new generation is connected to everything. They have access to so much information and so many images, they are so knowledgeable about luxury that their eyes see everything differently. They are more demanding and have the ability to quickly identify what they want or strive for,” explains the designer.
Times change, but Trinity never goes out of style. The proof is that celebrities like French-American actor Timothée Chalamet, 28, and other Generation Z idols are new fans of the three-band centenary ring. “If something doesn’t make sense, it only works for a few months. But an object with meaning never loses its validity,” concludes Cérède.
Marie-Laure Cérède has reinvented the 100th Anniversary Trinity Ring, a piece made up of three gold bands intertwined to infinity.