Cartier takes on a new role as the official jewelry partner of summer film ‘Ocean’s 8’
Cartier is the exclusive jewelry partner of this summer’s highly anticipated heist comedy “Ocean’s 8,” WWD has learned.
The collaboration is the French jeweler’s latest tie-up with Hollywood, having recently named actor Jake Gyllenhaal as the face of the Santos de Cartier watch and Annabelle Wallis as the ambassador of the Panthère de Cartier watch and jewelry collections. Oscar-winning director Sofia Coppola has also been a “friend” of Cartier since 2015.
The Warner Bros.’ film, the newest entry of the Ocean’s franchise was produced by Steven Soderbergh, who directed the first three “Ocean” films, and features an all-star female lead cast with a bevy of Oscar-winning actresses including Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway as well as Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulso, Rihanna and Awkwafina. In the film, Bullock plays Debbie Ocean, estranged sister to the trilogy’s Danny Ocean, who attempts to pull off a jewel heist at the Met Gala. Just last week, in a meta-moment, several of the cast attended the actual Met Gala for this year’s “Heavenly Bodies” exhibit, with Rihanna wearing jewelry by Cartier.
“As a maison, and throughout our history, we cherish our collaborations that bring visionaries together to celebrate individuality, diversity and empower bold and fearless women,” said Arnaud Carrez, Cartier’s international marketing and communications director.
The crown jewel of the collaboration is a one-of-a-kind necklace that plays a significant part in the plot of the caper comedy. According to Cartier, the necklace is a tribute to Jeanne Toussaint, the brand’s creative director in the Thirties who is said to have had a decisive hand in establishing what has become the house’s stylistic identity.
“Cartier is thrilled to continue its long-standing cinematic legacy. With this film, the New York Cartier Fifth Avenue mansion confirms its identity as a landmark of the city, and the Jeanne Toussaint necklace highlights Cartier’s craftsmanship in jewelry making on the silver screen,” Carrez noted.
The film’s necklace was made within the brand’s Paris high jewelry workshop at Rue de la Paix. It took around eight weeks to complete and is based on an original 1931 design by Jacques Cartier made for the Maharaja of Nawanagar. The original included the Queen of Holland, a blue-white diamond weighing 136.25 carats which at the time was known as “the finest cascade of colored diamonds in the world.” While the original jewel no longer exists, within its archives the company preserved a design drawing as well as photographs; the creation sketch was then used as a blueprint for the version seen in the film.
“Ocean’s 8” opens in theaters on June 8.
