It’s not often I feel compelled to write about jewellery but this is a Panthère de Cartier ring. Beloved by the likes of Chloe Sevigny with a cool $20,300 price tag, whilst many girls might pine for the pedestrian romance of a Tiffany solitaire, the style, power and sheer sex of this yellow gold, peridots and onyx lacquer beast of a piece is where it’s at for me.
The ring design was first introduced by Cartier back in 1914 and has lost none of it's mammalian charm, featuring in Vogue back in 2005 and recently accessorizing Kristen Stewart for a Vanity Fair shoot. The “feline motif is a tribute to devastating seduction, mysterious beauty and untamed character” and there’s one woman responsible for that.
Jeanne Toussaint joined Cartier in 1910 and become first lover and muse to Louis Cartier and then his director of fine jewellery from 1993 onwards. She was nicknamed ‘the panther’ by him for her obsession with the big cat and her similar character traits – including a merciless judgment - and she is responsible for the Panthère de Cartier jewellery range, some of which would make you weep with pleasure if you were ever lucky to acquire one, even if bling isn’t your thing.
Toussaint was a complete eccentric, a woman of exquisite and brave style and an uncompromising, daring and sense of self. She took self expression very seriously, choosing most days her self selected uniform of navy blue silk pyjamas, a printed turban and gold embroidered riding boots and she had a great sense of women's desire for emancipation, something she channelled through her style and her designs.
Like her contemporary Coco Chanel she was a "creative and demanding woman of the utmost elegance" who craved independence in the bedroom, the boardroom and at the bank. In fact they were so similar they shared some of the same lovers, including Cartier.
If for you, like me, the ring is probably a lottery win away, there’s a new Toussaint biography that has just come out written by Stéphanie des Horts called La Panthère: Le Fabuleux Roman de Jeanne Toussaint. Get hold of a copy and learn how to live life Panther-style.
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