Cartier and America

Today Sherry Cordova and I got to see the exhibit Cartier and America at the Palace of Legion of Honor. Wow! It was amazing. We went on a special docent led tour organized by the Metal Arts Guild. We got there at 8:50 am, before the museum opens to the public. It was really nice to have the place to ourselves for that half an hour.

This necklace was designed for Maria Felix. It was said she brought a baby crocodile to Cartier to use for a model.

It was unbelievable how many diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires were in the collection. The collection spanned the Cartier’s history from the early 1900’s to current day. It included jewelry but also the mystery clocks (very cool, the hands of the clock looked like they were floating in crystal), watches and other ornamental items designed by Cartier. We couldn’t take pictures but I was able to find a few images online.

These clocks were called mystery clocks because the hands of the clocks appeared to be floating. In reality, they were embeded into pieces of rock crystal which rotate.

There were a lot of interesting stories about the people who owned the jewels. One section of the exhibition was devoted to the designs that were drawn for the pieces. I really enjoyed the short film that showed the creation of a single necklace from the drawing to the final creation. If you haven’t seen the exhibition, it’s been extended through May 9, 2010.

Elizabeth Taylor with a diamond and ruby set given to her by her husband, Mike Todd.

When we left the museum, Sherry suggested that we stop by the wind mill at the end of Golden Gate Park to see the tulips. What a beautiful day and lovely ending to a fun day.

Tulip garden in Golden Gate Park.