Cartier

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A visit to the iconic Cartier store at 13 Rue de la Paix

Louis Cartier established the now famous Cartier boutique at 13 Rue de la Paix in 1899. Running between the Place Vendôme and Opéra Garnier, Rue de la Paix is the most expensive property on the French version of Monopoly. Cartier at 13 Rue de la Paix has seen countless notable personalities stroll through its elaborate entrance over the years, including various members of royalty, celebrities and even internet forum moderators.

Period illustration by Sem showing the arrival of the Prince of Wales, future King Edward VIII, and his Parisian admirers. 

Though it is now regarded as the iconic Cartier store, 13 Rue de la Paix was not Cartier’s first shop. When the jeweller was established in 1847, founder Louis-François Cartier took over the store belonging to his mentor, Adolphe Picard, at 29, rue Montorgueil. Six years later Cartier moved to rue Neuve de Petits-Champs in the Palais Royal area and then to the Boulevard des Italiens in 1859.

By the time Cartier moved to Rue de la Paix the street had evolved into the upscale neighbourhood it is today. Opened in 1806 at the behest of Napoleon I and originally known as rue Napoléon, Rue de la Paix was a fairly successful commercial street from the onset, but its emergence as a ritzy shopping destination only came about in the second half of the 19^th century. That was a consequence of Baron Haussman’s radical redrawing of Paris giving it the long, wide boulevards of today. By the middle of the 19^th century several well known merchants had opened on Rue de La Paix, including Guerlain perfumers and the couturier Worth.

With this shift in the Paris retail landscape, Louis Cartier persuaded his father Alfred, son of Cartier’s founder, to move to Rue de la Paix where Cartier opened in 1899. Cartier first acquired 13 Rue de la Paix, formerly the Westminster Hotel, followed by 11 Rue de la Paix in 1912, resulting in long, black and gold marble façade of today.

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