In another surprising departure from Cartier’s traditional approach, Michael Thomas (who had previously worked for the multi-brand retailer, Neiman Marcus) experimented in this period by selling co-branded products such as Cartier Rolex watches and jewelry with popular French jeweler, Dinh Van, and Canadian designer Roger Lucas.” Not popular with air- line security personnel (it caused delays at the X-ray machines when passengers left their screwdriver at home) or feminists (who saw it as akin to a chastity belt), the love bracelet was great publicity for the firm. After all, love symbols should suggest an everlasting quality.” The love bracelet was big news from the start, as Cartier New York marked the 1970 launch by giving twenty-five pairs away to celebrity couples, including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and soon everyone from Frank Sinatra to Sophia Loren to Cary Grant was in on the act. What modern people want are love symbols that look semi-permanent- or, at least, require a trick to remove. “Love,” Cipullo said at the time, “has become too commercial, yet life without love is nothing-a fat zero. Composed of two gold semicircles attached with two small screws (using the tiny screwdriver provided), the love bracelet was intended to be almost impossible to put on or remove by oneself. This idea of singling out a designer marked a change from the previous Cartier policy of designer anonymity, but Kenmore and his new sartorially elegant President of Cartier Inc., Michael Thomas, believed it would resonate with an American audience (Tiffany had been doing it for some time already with success). “In New York around this time, an Italian designer hired under Kenmore, Aldo Cipullo, was credited with inventing the love bracelet. “He was ahead of his time, extremely modern and made a lot of unisex models, which was a novelty in jewellery at that time” she adds. Very few people know that he created Cartier’s two most emblematic models” says Julie Valade Director of the jewellery department at Artcurial. “Aldo Cipullo is not particularly well-known, except to real jewellery lovers. ![]() Only one year into his new job, Cipullo created the iconic Cartier Love bracelet followed by another stupendous design “Juste un Clou”. In 1969, he moved over to Cartier and created a piece that would forever change the course of his career. He befriended Andy Warhol and quickly became part New York’s elite. ![]() In 1959, Aldo set off to live the American Dream and fell in love with New York City.Īfter graduating from Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts, Cipullo worked as a designer for American jeweller David Webb and then Tiffany & Co where he worked with Gene Moore. ![]() At the time, American culture in postwar Italy and celebrities Marlon Brando and James Dean were infiltrating the traditional Italian lifestyle. He decided to study architecture in Florence before a short spell in acting, but his love for all things American never died. The handsome young man, whose charisma was as big as the Stetson hat he wore and earned him the nickname “Americano”, was at the time inspired by other creative disciplines. Giuseppe was keen for him to learn the tricks of the trade, but Aldo’s interests at the time lay elsewhere. From a young age, Aldo helped his father Giuseppe in the sales department of their family-owned store. Born in Naples, Italy in 1935, Aldo Cipullo was the son of a costume jeweller and the eldest of five children.
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