Cartier and The Napier Archives

Although the designers at Napier were outstanding jewelers, silversmiths and artisans, they too, turned to other companies for design inspiration. This page was taken from a 1932 Cartier catalog that was part of The Napier Archive.

As discussed in the book, many catalogs from other companies were used either to examine the marketplace and current trends, or for design inspiration. The Napier archives contained catalogs with examples of the finest joaillerie to competitors such as Coro, Trifari, and Whiting and Davis.

Jewelry of this style was referred to as “Court Jewelry,” modeled after the exquisite jewels for the Monarchy. Napier surprisingly design and manufacture an extremely limited number of  “Court Jewelry” pieces.  An example of this type of jewelry can be found in chapter seven, Napier 1930s-1940s.

You can read more about this story in the post “Napier, Design and Inspiration” with your purchase of The Napier Book as a free member of “Exclusive Napier Club.”

Author: Melinda Lewis

Jewelry historian, Melinda Lewis is co-founder of Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l (CJCI) and author of The Napier Co.: Defining 20th Century American Costume Jewelry. View all posts by Melinda Lewis