The Most Expensive Pearls Ever? How Cartier Acquired Its New York City Headquarters
Cartier's NYC Headquarters -- The House a Necklace Bought
This is the story of how Cartier traded a double strand of natural pearls for what became its NYC headquarters building on 5th Avenue. It is retold by Ralph Destino, former CEO of Cartier and published in Antoinette Matlins’ The Pearl Book and elsewhere. Here is an abridged version.
“In 1915 Cartier made history by offering the first pearls to be priced over $1 million — $1.2 million to be exact. The necklace was placed on exhibition in Paris, then London and finally arrived in New York in the fall of 1916. All the great ladies of New York rushed to admire them — the Astors, the Vanderbilts, and so on.
“While the pearls were making the ‘Grand Tour” in Europe, another seemingly unrelated event was taking place; Grace Vanderbilt, the Grand dame of New York society, sold her mansion on the southwest corner of 52nd and Fifth Avenue and moved uptown to the ‘country’ at 5th Avenue and 85th Street. Her young neighbor across the street on the southeast corner of Fifth and 52nd, Maisie Plant, wanted to follow suit. After all, if the neighborhood was ‘declasse’ for Grace Vanderbilt, it wasn’t good enough for Maisie! So she decided to sell her mansion and move uptown as well. She put it on the market, coincidentally, for $1.2 million.
“We now return to the pearl necklace. When it made its debut at Cartier’s New York salon — a small establishment on the second floor
Maisie Plant and her fabulous double strand of natural pearls from Cartier.
of a building at 54th and Fifth — al of New York society came to marvel at the pearls. None marvelled more than Maisie Plant. She wanted them. However, her husband, normally a most generous man, refused to consider such a price for pearls. Well, thought Maisie, the mansion is mine, and since I’m going to move uptown anyway she went to Cartier and proposed a swap…the mansion in exchange for the pearl necklace. And Louis cartier accepted! The firm of Cartier has been situated in the former Plant mansion since that time, and this building has become a great New York landmark.
Unfortunately for Maisie, she didn’t anticipate the depression, war and the introduction of cultured pearls. Her necklace was sold at auction in 1957 by Parke-Bernet (now Sotheby’s) for a mere $170,000; the current value of the Fifth Avenue mansion I’ll leave to your imagination.”