Cartier Flagship Store
A jewelbox among jewelboxes strung along the ritziest stretch of midtown Fifth Avenue, the Cartier store is the elegant receptacle of a nation's nouveau riche dreams, as Tiffany's was once to Audrey Hepburn's generation. The company is credited with inventing the wristwatch in 1904, and became famous for devising the perfect setting for the world-famous Hope Diamond soon thereafter, but today the shop specializes not in the audacious or the innovative, but the understated glamour that only a court jeweler could offer. Thankfully, like the fresh corpse of a dignitary, the wares are still open for public view.
Today, people purchase New York City buildings for millions and millions of dollars. At the start of the 20th century, the Cartier flagship store was purchased for one very famous necklace.
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