How Cartier’s strategy made it the king of luxury jewelers

Cartier is the world’s leading luxury jeweler. It designs, manufactures, and sells high-end jewelry, watches, and other accessories. Its headquarters is in Paris, France and Cyrille Vigneron is its current President & CEO. The Richemont Group of Johann Rupert & family owns Cartier.

Cartier’s strategy has three elements that have contributed to its success: 

1. Its focus on quality
2. Its distinctive branding
3. Its commitment to extraordinary customer service. 

Cartier’s focus on quality is evident in its designs and products. The company uses only the finest materials and the most skilled craftsmen to create its products. This attention to detail has made Cartier’s jewelry some of the most sought-after in the world.

Cartier’s distinctive branding is another key to its success. The company has a long history of creating iconic designs that are immediately recognizable. The Cartier “Love” bracelet, for example, is one of the most popular jewelry pieces in the world. Cartier’s brand is synonymous with luxury and excellence.

Finally, Cartier’s commitment to customer service is unrivaled. The company has a global network of retail stores and offers a wide range of services, including:

• Care and adjustment
• Personalization of creations
• Repair

In this strategy study, we’ll see how the Maison combined these three elements with unparalleled loyalty to family to take over all the corners of the world.

Cartier’s market share and key statistics

• Grew its brand value by 88% in 2022
• Annual revenue of more than $1 billion
• 7,500 employees of 90 nationalities within the Maison
• Brand value from $6,7 billion in 2017 to $12,4 billion in 2022
• It has 274 boutiques and three Temples (historical Maisons)
• Global Jewelry Market Share is estimated to reach $500 billion by 2026

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Humble Beginnings: How was Cartier founded?

The founder of the Cartier brand is Louis-Francois Cartier.

Born in a gunpowder-making family in 1819, he craved formal education but never got the chance to pursue it. His father sent him to work as an apprentice to Monsieur Bernard Picard, a master fabricant of jewels and watches.

Apprenticeship in those days was cruel, but it was an opportunity to enter the middle class and live a better life than his father. Cartier proved to be tenacious, and in 1847, at the age of 27, he negotiated a deal with his former boss to buy out the store.

Even though Louis-Francois Cartier laid the foundation for his posterity to build the family Empire, success wasn’t certain at the beginning.

Cartier’s first strategic decisions and Paris’s reform

In the early months of his business, Cartier had very specific challenges that he needed to overcome, and he would focus on doing exactly that.

Firstly, Francois was still in debt to Picard and some family members from purchasing the store. Secondly, the Cartier business wasn’t distinguished or popular enough to attract renowned names with deep pockets that could sustain his business. So he realized that his first feasible goal was to establish his business name in the trade.

How did he do that?

His first move was to register his unique maker’s mark that would distinguish him from Picard on April 17, 1847. However, he knew that his master’s name bore enough respect that he could capitalize on it. So, within a year, Cartier put his name in the directory of Paris de Almanac as the “successor to M. Piccard.”

Francois didn’t abandon the craft of making jewels, but he didn’t stop there either. He expanded his stock significantly, offering all sorts of jewelry, from crystal bracelets to diamond earrings and pearl accessories. To keep his business going, and since he couldn’t attract aristocracy, he would sell to his fellow jewelers and other workshops.

But Cartier was unfortunate. Just one year after he opened his business, a detrimental, many-month-long revolution in Paris would jeopardize everything. For the next four years, Paris was in chaos, the jewelry market had sunk, and Louis-Francois had closed shop.

In 1853, things started to change for the better.

How Cartier pivoted and changed clientele

The political situation stabilized once Napoleon III came into power.

Napoleon wished to return France back to its former glory, so he focused on strengthening and modernizing the economy, making strong trade agreements, and rebuilding central Paris to encourage innovation and commercial expansion. As a result, the French middle and upper classes’ wealth increased significantly.

At the same time, the salary structure of craftsmen changed and allowed for higher earning potential. New technologies automated parts of the crafting process that required skilled hands, like the creation of certain components of ornaments. Cheaper components and higher-quality imitation stones increased in quality and supply. Even new crafting techniques were introduced, like a gold electroplating technique that made plating a low-cost process.

All of these events boosted the demand for luxury while increasing their quality and decreasing their cost of creation. Just when things took a turn for the better, Cartier made a decision that would change the fate of his family forever.

He moved his shop to a more fashionable and distinguished neighborhood where the mousse of French female beauty was strolling and shopping. His goal was to sell directly to high-end clients and build his network.

So, he moved near Palais-Royal.

How Cartier differentiated from competitors

Cartier was not the first one to think of moving his jewelry shop to that neighborhood.

He might had changed his target audience, but he was now competing with all of the other jewelry shops in the area. The fact that seemingly competitive workshops were, in fact, supplying each other made it even harder to differentiate. But Cartier’s business skills were just as advanced as his crafting skills. 

So he deployed a twofold strategy that today might seem obvious but was the best bet he had at the time.

The first part of the strategy was to attract more customers by offering more than just jewelry but luxury items that the home of every aristocrat of the time must have. It included silver tea sets, and ivory and bronze decorative items next to beautiful bracelets and jewelry. As long as the items met his high-quality standards, he would include them in his shop. He just wanted to increase the number of people that entered his shop, so he could deploy the second part of his strategy.

The second part of the strategy was high-quality customer service. Since his range of products wasn’t unique, he decided to win over customers by sheer kindness. Cartier and his son, Alfred, didn’t distinguish between the clients that entered their store and treated everyone with the highest level of respect. They employed a doorman with a huge smile on his face, which made potential customers feel good and ultimately buy jewels.

The strategy worked because two years after his pivoting move to the distinguished neighborhood, he got a visit from a client that would change the fate of the Cartier family.

The breakthrough event that led to unprecedented growth

The Countess of Nieuwerkerk made a significant purchase of various cameos that day.

Ever since, she became a regular customer of Cartier, buying more than 50 pieces in the next three years. Although her direct contributions were important, it was her presence at esteemed events that made all the difference. One of her Cartier purchases caught the attention of Napoleon’s niece: Princesse Mathilde Bonaparte.

Princess Mathilde was one of the most influential women in Paris. With “the most beautiful neckline in Europe” and a taste admired by the most affluent people, she was every jeweler’s dream advocate. Becoming a regular client of Cartier resulted in the purchase of more than 200 pieces from her alone and many more from her husband.

The Countess and the royal family were a great source of income for Cartier, but an even greater asset for his business was the first brevet that the princess awarded him.

Brevet = A royal warrant that gives the merchant the right to advertise that the royalty is among his clients.

In other words, there was no higher credibility or marketing award a jeweler could possess at that time.

Key Takeaway #1: Identify the immediate challenge you need to address

Cartier faced a lot of challenges early in his business career, not unlike those of a modern business.

From surviving to differentiating, the sign of a great strategy is clarity of the immediate challenge. Once you have identified it, you can devise a plan to overcome it. It can be as radical as changing your clientele or something as simple as offering a premium experience to your customers or luring them to you with products of an adjacent but attractive category.

And when you keep playing the game of business long enough, you cultivate the space that invites a lucrative opportunity. You might also be visited by your industry’s Countess, who takes you straight to your own bevet.

Cartier’s international expansion strategy: from a humble store to a global luxury icon

Alfred, the son of Louis-Francois Cartier, did a great job keeping the business alive and the Cartier name in high regard through very difficult times.

However, it was his three sons who expanded the business globally and secured its survival beyond their generation. Louis, Pierre, and Jacques Cartier shared a remarkable set of skills between them that helped them build the foundations for the business to scale globally.

But it was the immense love and commitment to the family that allowed them to combine their skills and collaborate for everyone’s mutual benefit.

When the three brothers built what today are known as the three Cartier Temples, they decided that each store would be a separate company, but every brother would have a stake in the others’ branches.

Such was the bond they shared.

Louis Cartier’s innovations in design kept the company at the cutting-edge

Responsible for the Paris Historical Maison, the business’s headquarters, was the eldest son, Louis Cartier.

Louis was the most creative of the three, a designer with a grand vision for the future and a commitment to the family business that included a lot of personal sacrifices. He was an innovator whose creations left a mark on art and shaped future generations of jewelry making.

Among his most remarkable creations are:

• Mystery clocks
• The Trinity Ring
• The Panthère motif
• Introducing the Garland style
• The first-ever wristwatch, the Santos

Modern pieces of Louis Cartier’s innovations

However, his personal life was troubled. His first marriage was more of a business investment than a lover’s choice – a common trope in the Cartier family. Louis would use his wife’s dowry liberally to grow the business but wouldn’t spend much time at home. And his quick temper didn’t leave the business unscathed.

But Louis was unquestionably charismatic, with an extraordinarily refined aesthetic and designing skills that held the family name at the top of artistic innovation.

Pierre Cartier’s business acumen reduced Cartier’s risk significantly

Pierre Cartier opened and ran the New York Historical Maison at a time that no competitor was thinking globally.

Pierre’s most powerful skills were in business. He was unmatched in dealmaking, finance, networking, and in his intuitive understanding of how markets work and people think. He may not be involved in design, but his accomplishments in shaping the company’s competitive position were no short of amazing.

His achievements include, but are not limited to:

• A large order ahead of the opening of the first London Cartier store that popularized Cartier in the new market
• The buying of the New York store on Fifth Avenue for a double-stranded natural pearl necklace
• Being the first French jeweler to cross the Pacific
• The sale of the cursed Hope Diamond
• The overtaking of an aggressive competitor in New York

All of these defining achievements didn’t come effortlessly. For years, Pierre struggled to get out of his older brother’s shadow. Louis was ahead of Pierre on almost everything. His designing genius forced Pierre to focus and hone his skills in all the things his brother was dismissing but were crucial for the longevity of the company.

However, Pierre found his calling, made a name for himself and contributed to the company’s global expansion uniquely.

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Jacque Cartier’s modesty invited and retained Cartier’s top clientele

At age 22, Jacque Cartier joined the family business, and nine months later, he was head of the London Historical Maison.

Jacque’s brought phenomenal expertise in gemstones that he employed in his extensive travels. He was modest, not as ambitious as his brothers, but a good listener and an honest businessman that generated a loyal clientele worldwide.

His accomplishments were of a different nature from his brothers’:

• Introduced his brother’s (and to Europe) Indian-inspired creations
• Expanded the business to Asia
• Secured supply deals for unique and priceless gems from Asia
• Fought and survived at the Front in the Great War
• Delivered the only heir to the Cartier Empire

As the youngest of the three brothers, Jacque wasn’t treated as an equal for a very long time. Even as director of the London store, he only owned a ridiculous 5% of it, and only years later did the brothers agree to give him the controlling share. However, Louis and Pierre didn’t shy away from telling him how important he was in the business and that they needed him to be successful.

Jacque’s travels and modest character brought much-needed perspective and new opportunities for the family business that kept it going through some tough competitive instances.

Cartier’s business strategy was interconnected with the family decisions

The Cartiers considered their personal lives complimentary to their business roles.

And that’s why no brother could ever “under-marry.” If a marriage wasn’t also a great financial or reputational investment, it never took place. Louis’s first marriage was arranged and brought significant capital to the business while associating the Cartier name with an even bigger one. Pierre’s marriage opened the door for expansion in the US. And Jacque’s marriage also brought significant capital, increased prestige, and brought the heir to the Cartier Empire.

TThe brothers combined their ideas, skills, and wives’ dowries and supported each other to build collections and clientele that spanned from Russia and Europe all the way to India and the US.

Key Takeaway #2: Trust is the ultimate advantage in business

The third generation of Cartiers faced a lot of unusual and potential destructive challenges, but it also grew the business to exceptional heights.

Collectively, they managed to come up with impressive solutions and generate lasting advantages against their competitors. Every challenge had a tailored solution. At first glance, the common underlying force at play isn’t obvious. At a closer look, a pattern emerges.

The three brothers worked as a single mind. They ran the three Temples like one business. The decisions and the trust they showed to each other couldn’t be matched by the most generous agreement between partnering competitors. They shared a common dream “to build the leading jewelry firm in the world,” which they followed through even after their most heated disagreements. Their faith and commitment to the family name and each other fueled many decisions and investments that their competitors simply couldn’t match.

People conduct business. Fostering relationships and trust is one of the highest returns investments a businessman can make.

Cartier’s growth in the new millennium

The era of the three Cartier brothers is arguably the most important in the brand’s history. It was accompanied, after all, by a public recognition from King Edward VII of Great Britain calling Cartier "the jeweler of kings and the king of jewelers" and the Maisons’ global expansion.

Since then, Cartier waxed and waned but never went into obscurity. Before the new millennia, Cartier was sold out of the family and, since 1988, has been part of the Richemont Group. The Group owns 26 Maisons and businesses, and 2 297 monobrand boutiques that span from luxury jewelry brands like Buccellati and Van Cleef & Arpels to online distributors like Watchfinder & Co. and YOOX NET-A-PORTER.

Let’s explore the Maison’s strategies in the 21st century.

How the Cartier brand grew the most in 2022

Cartier grew its brand value by 88% year on year in 2022.

It’s the top riser in brand value globally. It'd be a mistake to attribute this impressive feat to luck. On the contrary, it’s the result of swift, decisive action and a focused strategy. According to Kandar Brandz Global Report 2022, the luxury category grew 45% in 2022. Which means that Cartier not only rode the wave of growth but also outperformed it by a double pace.

But how did Cartier achieve such a feat? It did it with several simultaneous moves.

First, as soon as the pandemic hit and the first curfew took place, Cartier leadership took a big bet. They decided to take advantage of the time their stores were closed and renovated them. The overhaul took many months to complete for its store. But once the pandemic was over, Cartier’s store came out of it more glamorous than ever. The boutique at rue du Rhône 35, in Geneva, was the 100th renovated boutique.

Second, the brand focused on strengthening its online game. Specifically, it implemented a remarkably effective system in China of appointing a specific salesman to each customer that remained popular even after the stores had opened. Cartier also found new and innovative ways to engage with its audience through innovative digital touchpoints without shedding its ultra-exclusive brand trait.

And third, by capitalizing on its timeless value and distinguished style. During the last couple of years, Cartier increased its prices significantly due to two noteworthy facts. People were spending their travel budget on jewelry, and Cartier pieces became a smart investment that kept their value over time. Coupling the increased profit margin and the strengthening of its e-commerce network, Cartier’s 2021 success was nothing less than awe-inspiring.

Cartier’s digital transformation strategy

The luxury industry is moving into a new era of digital transformation.

It focuses on speed and migrating the luxury experience of an in-store visit in the aether of the web. That means that brands are investing in Super Apps and launching their e-commerce. Cartier gave its website a facelift, and with the WeChat mobile app focused on serving the Chinese front, its most successful market during the global pandemic.

Additionally, we see a collected investment in the digital future of luxury. Cartier, LVMH, and Prada Group created the first blockchain solution for luxury brands. The collected effort indicates that the brands recognize the potential of web3 for their industry and that they all stand to profit from a successful expansion to what many believe to be the future of the internet.

Cartier and other luxury giants are also partnering with innovative startups to instill every luxury piece with a unique serial ID. Its purpose would naturally be authentication, but also a simple and reliable way to track its resale history and environmental footprint.

The Maison and the luxury industry are well into their digital transformation.

Cartier’s sustainability strategy

Cartier has made a series of commitments in its sustainability strategy, with Cartier for Nature being its most recent independent fund.

It has set ambitious goals for the next couple of years regarding the entirety of its supply and production chain. It has achieved some notable successes thus far, like ensuring that more than 90% of the gold the business buys is recycled and hitting carbon neutrality in 2019. In 2021, Cartier launched the first photovoltaic watch, the Tank Must Watch. An amazing feat of engineering and design.

According to Cartier’s leadership, sustainability is a strategic priority.

Cartier’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy and its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives

Cartier is a founding member of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) and sits at the Standards Committee. In the last two decades, it has actively been trying to develop better practices in the industry and raise standards.

Over the years, Cartier has made a significant impact through these three entities:

1. The Cartier Women's Initiative
2. The Cartier Philanthropy
3. The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain

Cartier Women’s Initiative is a joint venture led entirely by women. It has helped over 250 female social impact entrepreneurs (favoring the creation and growth of ethical, transparent, and meaningfully impactful on our lives and society enterprises) succeed by offering training, support, and awards that include financial compensation (already given $6 million).

With the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain (Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art), the Maison supports contemporary artists like Claudia Andujar, Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, Damien Hirst, Bernie Krause and United Visual Artists (UVA), Raymond Depardon, Jean Nouve, and many others. It organizes exhibitions and commissions and introduces talented young artists to international recognition.

The Maison actively contributes to society through the Cartier Philanthropy foundation. It focuses on providing grants to non-profit organizations that focus on four key areas: access to basic services, women’s social and economic development, sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems, and emergency response like participating in the global coronavirus relief effort. Even out of its eight senior leaders are women.

Cartier is determined to become a modern and ethical brand that leverages cutting-edge technology to create meaningful relationships with its customers.

Key Takeaway #3: Achieve extraordinary results by taking big bets

Cartier, like every brand in the 21st century, embraced the internet’s capabilities to increase its brand reach and impact.

The Maison implements the same tactics that every other luxury brand, like partnering with popular icons that align with its brand values. Its 2021 Love is All campaign invited many famous artists around the world to become advocates and celebrate “universal and timeless love.”

However, if you want to experience Cartier’s extraordinary success, you need to do some things differently. Playing it safe and focusing on business as usual is a sure way to fail. A great strategy is inherently risky. Which means to achieve results that make your rivals watch you helplessly steal their piece of the pie, you need to take big bets. 

Sometimes that means taking advantage of a down period to prepare or pioneering in the digital transformation and becoming the first ethical business in your industry.

Why is Cartier so successful?

Cartier’s iconic red box didn’t become omnipresent in every palace and elite house around the world by chance.

Cartier's unique mix of top-quality products, distinctive style, and commitment to offering its customers an exceptional experience has made it the world's number one luxury jeweler. The company’s long history of serving royalty and Hollywood stars has helped to solidify its reputation as a premier luxury brand.

What is Cartier’s vision?

The Cartier vision – or Cartier spirit – is to be synonymous with open-mindedness and curiosity, and see beauty in everything. Its values are creativity, freedom, sharing, and excellence.

“This vision enables a creative territory that is shaped around a unique style. From jewelry and fine jewelry to watchmaking and perfumes: Cartier’s creations symbolize the fusion of exceptional savoir-faire and timelessness.”

Growth by the numbers

Key Strategic Takeaways from Cartier’s story:

1. Identify the immediate challenge you need to address.

And build a strategy that tackles that challenge first. What worked in the past might not work right now. Your current challenge helps you shape your strategic priorities.

2. Trust is the ultimate advantage in business.

Would you ever do business with someone you don’t trust? Even if that someone agrees to all of your terms and conditions. Of course not. The more trusted partners you find, the better your chances of success are.

3. Achieve extraordinary results by taking big bets.

Outstanding success is not given to those who play it safe. Audacity and big bets are always major elements of a great strategy.

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