triving to meet in-service training requirements and to sustain jewellery professions, the Maison created the Cartier Jewellery Institute in 2002. The Cartier Jewellery Institute is celebrating its 20th anniversary and its commitment to know-how is stronger than ever.
In 2016, the Institute took up residence in an 18th century mansion in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, at the heart of the historic Parisian jewellery district. While upholding the House’s values, this ground-breaking initiative underscored Cartier’s willingness to bring about specific responses to the challenges and evolutions which shape the jewellery industry.
The Institute’s main goal is to support the professional development of Cartier’s craftspeople through ongoing training. It offers training in traditional jewellery professions and enables other rare crafts, which currently do not have a teaching programme, to be passed on between craftspeople, such as pearl threading and wax animal carving.
Furthermore, in the context of collaborations between crafts, the Institute offers cross training schemes to enable craftspeople to complement their initial training by discovering another craft. A jeweller can thereby follow a setter training, to enhance his/her skills and to enable him/her to better grasp the constraints linked to each step of the fabrication process.
The Cartier Jewellery Institute is also committed to promoting jewellery culture within the Maison and the Richemont Group, through practical training at the workbench. These experiences are also proposed externally to journalists, friends of the Maison and High Jewellery customers. Almost 300 people are hosted each year at this unique venue.
Cartier feels duty-bound to promote these crafts, which contribute to the creation of outstanding pieces. The sector, which is traditionally discreet, nonetheless represents French-style excellence and offers major potential in terms of employment. The Institute strives to diffuse this message, through long-standing partnerships with the sector’s key players.
The Maison maintains strong ties with the profession’s finest schools, both in Paris and France-wide. The Institute has for example forged a special relationship with the Haute École de Joaillerie for over 150 years; consolidated in 2018 by the signature of a Charter of Commitment. This partnership involves, among other things, hosting interns, training apprentices as part of work-study contracts, being involved with discussions, the school’s strategy and the development of the profession.
Today, some twenty apprentices are assigned to the four main jewellery professions (jeweller, stone-setter, polisher and gem-cutter). Concomitantly, there are around thirty interns from the network of partner schools, including the École Boulle, Edgard Faure High School in Morteau and the Saumur Jewellery Institute. The Institute hopes to substantially increase these numbers in the coming years. Cartier has also launched a Digital Jewellery Bachelor’s with the Haute École de Joaillerie, the profession’s first certified training course.
