Is it true that Cartier bought their first jewelry store for a pearl necklace?

I know it's hard to believe, but the Cartier mansion was purchased with a pearl necklace! Pierre Cartier also threw in a hundred bucks for good measure… The story of how this came about all begins way back in 1847 when Pierre Cartier's grandfather, Louis Francois Cartier founded Cartier Jewelry. At the beginning of the 20th century, Pierre opened the Cartier shop in London, and later opened another jewelry boutique in New York. In 1917, Pierre Cartier decided to change the location of the New York jewelry store and found the perfect spot in a residential neighborhood on 5th Avenue. The mansion (built 1903 – 1905) was one of the very first private places of residence ever constructed in that specific section of the city. At first, this seemed to be problematic as the affluent members of society residing in the neighborhood were not interested in having businesses corrupt their high class residential area. Nonetheless, at the time, the neo-Renaissance mansion located on 5th Ave. and 52nd St. belonged to a New York banker, Morton Plant. Plant was so impressed by the pearl necklace Cartier offered him (said to be worth $1 M) that he agreed to sell the mansion in exchange for the pearl necklace and $100. The pearl necklace was not just any piece of jewelry – it was a double strand of natural pearls, an exceedingly rare commodity, especially in those days. Morton Plant then presented the stunning piece of pearl jewelry to his wife Mae as a lovely gift. In the year 1970, it was proposed that the Cartier mansion become a landmark of New York City. Indeed in 2003, the intersection on which the Cartier mansion still stands was named "Place de Cartier", solidifying the place of this classic jewelry boutique in the history of New York City.

• 9
• 9