The story of Cartier’s Love is the story of a unique bracelet – a jewelry icon that is not only desired for its beauty, but for its revolutionary symbolism. And it is to Aldo Cipullo that we owe to have imagined this key work!
History of Love Cartier: Aldo Cipullo, Andy Warhol and the New York of the 60s
The aesthetic framework of Cartier’s Love is not to be found in the Place Vendôme. No, the mythical jeweler of the rue de La Paix did not directly order this jewel like no other.
It is indeed on the side of the effervescence of the Sixties that one must go to seek the aesthetic roots. Yes, Aldo Cipullo’s bold and creative spirit was indeed bubbling to the rhythm of a modern and eminently revolutionary age.
This son of Italian jeweler was indeed evolving in the artistic and underground circles of the Big Apple. In the 60s, the American city is the epicenter of those who want to change the world, art and life!
In this, Aldo Cipullo bathes in this cultural bath that carries high new values. He frequents Warhol’s Factory, and its stars at the forefront of a liberation without precedent in history!
Values of liberation of the morals, and notably sexual… Values that we still find sung in the incomparable groove of James Brown. Yes, it was a time of renewal and modernity – radical but elegant! And if there is luxury, it had to be relaxed, as if relieved of the weight of the past… As glorious as it was.
It is this graphic and ultra-modern New-York; this city which praises so much the clear and precise lines of the Bauhaus which gives birth to the idea of the Love bracelet in the Italian’s mind. A piece that, again, finds its raison d’être in a very personal episode of his life.
Love Cartier: A Bracelet with Dazzling Symbolism
“I felt very sad. I wanted something that no one could take away from me. I was looking for a permanent symbol of love.”
It is following a breakup in love that Aldo Cipullo sets out to make a piece with quiet symbolism. Modern love handcuffs” according to his own expression.
And it is precisely the environment and the time in which he evolves that guide him towards an atour with a simplicity as mischievous as it is brilliant!
Inspired by the American hardware stores he liked to visit with his brother, Aldo Cipullo had the brilliant idea of introducing the triviality of nails and screws into a luxurious jewel. In 1968, in the middle of the Youthquake, to use Diana Vreeland’s expression… In the middle of the first Summer of Love carried by the Peace and Love wave… He presents a prototype to Tiffany’s.
An unpretentious bracelet with designs of small screws, allowing it to be closed by a screwdriver … But the piece lacks grandeur and the house refuses the project.
A year later, the project landed on the desk of Michael Thomas, the young president of Carier in New York.
Perfect for the house that has made audacity and playfulness the essence of its luxury, both grandiose and detached from codes!
And here is how Cartier, in 1969, started a thunderous revolution in the world of jewelry… A new era of modernity was indeed going to open on the way we conceive, wear and understand the finery… As luxurious as they are!
Love Cartier 2023: Amazing Jewelry
“What people want today are love symbols that lock in semi-permanently or are at least difficult to remove. After all, love symbols should illustrate infinity” Aldo Cipullo.
Minimalist and functional, beautiful and full of symbolism – Love will become a manifesto. Mixed and unisex, no longer round but oval to fit all wrists… This jewel still reveals the deeply romantic intention to preserve the memories of a lost love…
Because the little screws on the bracelet are more than just ornaments – the two parts of the bracelet are actually screwed together. The supplied screwdriver allows to close it, and to open it…
In 1971, a year after its introduction to the U.S. market, he quipped about the emotion of such an item: “I have become a great connoisseur of nuts, screws and nails. This hardware, as hard as it looks, has a certain warmth. Jewelry should exude warmth.”
Love Cartier News : A Legendary Bracelet
If the Cartier bracelet is today one of the absolute icons of the international jewellery repertoire, it is because, since its launch in 1970, the Love has seduced the sacred monsters of its time… To borrow an expression from Jean Cocteau.
In 1970, during a dinner organized by Cartier, the piece was offered to mythical couples of the moment! Starting with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton – the couple who brought to the forefront more than one legendary attire.
That same evening, Love is still offered to Ali McGraw and Steve McQueen, and Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti…
Also to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor – who refuse it! The Love de Cartier, then considered too modern, ended up, according to legend, being given as a gift to their valet.
But it is the appearance of the bracelet on Elizabeth Taylor, in 1972, which completes to make it a legendary jewel. The actress being known for her inimitable and insatiable taste for the beautiful clothes wears it in the film Une belle tigresse.
And Aldo Cipullo himself will confess to having seen the film four times to have the pleasure of admiring his creation on this more than mythical icon!
Therefore, the Love bracelet can only have the dazzling destiny of icons. In 1979, Cartier produced it set with diamonds. In 1983, the singer Tina Turner wore the Love bracelet during her triumphant comeback. It is the only jewel that she wore… That is to say the aura and the symbolism of resilience that this jewel carries out of time and definitely out of the ordinary!
In 2017, the Love bracelet was so desired that the house of Cartier made it the pretext for a collection. Thus declined in several other jewels such as rings, necklaces, or earrings… The Love collection is set with diamonds or other precious stones, in yellow, pink, white gold, and platinum!
Its screwdriver opening system ? Well, there is no shortage of anecdotes on this subject… It is said, for example, that many New York hospitals have one of these tools in their possession. To open the bracelet, if necessary.
That’s probably why in 2017, Cartier is releasing a new Love bracelet… A bracelet that, while it retains everything of its indestructible ancestor, does not require the help of a second person to open and close it!
Finally, it is Cartier’s 2020 Love campaign that sums up the power of such a jewelry creation. The campaign, deftly questioning, “How far would you go for love? “