Jewellery

The Cartier Panther (La Panthère de Cartier)

15 July 2025

Veronica Olszowska

The panther has been synonymous with Cartier since as early as 1914 when Louis Cartier commissioned the well-known contemporary illustrator, George Barbier, to design an invitation for a jewellery exhibition. Barbier came up with the Lady with a panther image, depicting an elegant, feminine and alluring woman with a sleek black feline at her feet. The association between Cartier and the big cat had begun. That year the panther was incorporated for the first time in a wristwatch, in diamonds and black onyx.

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Cartier: An 18ct gold ‘Panthère de Cartier’ ring

Modelled as a stylised leopard head with pierced geometric detail, the eyes set with two pear-shaped tsavorite garnets and an onyx cabochon nose, signed Cartier, numbered ALY631, French assay marks

Sold for £9,450 incl premium

In that same year Jeanne Toussaint was employed by Cartier to design handbags. Not much is known of Toussaint’s early life, but she came from Belgium and set about making a career and a name for herself in Paris. She had a great eye for style and design, she was ambitious and so mixed with the higher echelons of society. Toussaint counted Coco Chanel amongst her friends. The story goes that Jeanne had been given the nickname of 'PanPan' by an aristocratic lover after a trip to Africa in 1913, as she was feisty and beguiling, like the wild cats that they had seen there. It was only natural that soon she would incorporate the panther into her designs, unaware that it would forever become her trademark.

By the end of the First World War, she and Louis Cartier were having an affair which lasted many years. Toussaint was known for wearing a floor length, big cat fur coat and that Louis called her his “Petite Panthère”. Her flare, style and design prowess secured her place at Cartier where, by 1933, she had been promoted to Creative Director of the Maison, a position she held until she retired in 1970.

Cartier: An 18ct gold diamond ‘Panthère de Cartier’ bracelet

The leopard pavé-set with round brilliant-cut diamonds, onyx collar and nose and pear-shaped emerald eye, the polished rectangular links with diamond connectors, signed Cartier, numbered 28303C, UK hallmark, in original box and outer box

Sold for £25,200 incl premium

In 1917 Louis Cartier gave Jeanne Toussaint a cigarette case of diamonds, onyx and platinum and it was the first of the panther figurative pieces. The design continued to grow and in 1928 the Prince of Nepal bought a panther cigarette case and in that same year the first bracelet featuring a panther clasp was produced.

In 1935 Cartier created the first three-dimensional two panther ring, but it was the emerald and panther brooch that the Duchess of Windsor bought from stock 1948 that saw the panther represented in its entirety for the first time. The following year the Duchess of Windsor acquired another panther piece. This time it was the striking three-dimensional panther brooch with which she became associated: the brooch consists of a diamond and sapphire panther sitting on top of a 152.35 carat sapphire. The panther emblem then became the must-have accessory for women of the day.

An 18ct gold Panthère de Cartier gem set ring, Cartier

modelled as a leopards head, with black lacquer detail, the eyes modelled with pear shaped tsavorite garnets, and an onyx cabochon nose, French marks, signed Cartier 53 AJL 681AU750, in Cartier tooled red and gold leather box and outer box

Sold for £5,000 incl premium

By now discerning jewellery collectors were buying Cartier Panthère pieces. In 1958 Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan commissioned the first pair of panther head earrings with diamonds, sapphires and emeralds. He also commissioned a panther brooch with an articulated head and legs, which could equally be worn as the clasp on a pearl necklace. The first iteration of the double panther-head hinged bangle, made of diamonds, sapphires and emeralds was also made that year.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Cartier produced many variations on the theme. María Félix, the Mexican actress and singer, commissioned a bracelet with two overlapping panthers, with articulated heads and legs. Giovanni Agnelli, the Italian politician acquired a double panther-head brooch of diamonds, emeralds and onyx. The panther’s iconic allure was spreading far and wide and it appealed to worldly and affluent buyers such as French actress Juliette Greco, and American millionaires Daisy Fellowes and Barbara Hutton.

Cartier: A ‘Panthère de Cartier' bracelet

The leopard pavé-set with round brilliant-cut diamonds, an onyx nose and round-cut emerald eyes, double strand trace-link bracelet, signed Cartier, numbered WJ5115, stamped 750

Sold for £4,788 incl premium

And so it continued into the 1980s and 1990s, the Panthère de Cartier watch range was first launched in the 1980s, and is today still favoured by film stars, singers and political leaders alike. The enduring design had a makeover in 2005 however, and The Panthère de Cartier then took the form of an angular, faceted ring in yellow gold, onyx, peridot and black laquer. In 2008 the 1949 brooch created for the Duchess of Windsor was also re-imagined, in a brooch with onyx and diamonds and emerald drops.

In 2012 Cartier released a short promotional film called L’Odyssée de Cartier in which a panther in the shop window comes to life. The panther navigates the viewer through the history of the house of Cartier, diamonds in snowy Russia, with Love bangles rolling through snowdrifts, jade and dragons in Asia, rubies and elephants in India, wristwatches and aviation flying back to Paris, through its streets and to the Eiffel Tower. The film ends with a white gold Panther bracelet featuring a 51.58-carat emerald, onyx and diamonds being enclosed in a red Cartier jewellery box. The message was clear: style, craftsmanship and world domination.

In 2014 Cartier launched La Panthère Eau de Parfum, saying “This fragrance collection explores a floral-feline accord: the union of a historic chypre, a mythical animal musk and a fresh, vibrant gardenia.” The panther head is sculpted inside the glass bottle and is angular, reminiscent of the 2005 re-imagined design.

An 18ct gold Panthère de Cartier pendant necklace, Cartier

Modelled as a prowling leopard, with peridot set eyes, and a small cabochon onyx nose, to a double trace link chain and lobster type clasp, signed Cartier 750 XW3703, in Cartier tooled red and gold leather box

Sold for £4,000 incl premium

In 2017, a hundred years after Louis Cartier gave Jeanne Toussaint a cigarette case featuring the panther, Cartier created a brooch in white gold, with sapphires, emeralds, onyx and diamonds inspired by the 1917 design. Then in 2018, over a hundred years after Barbier’s Lady with a Panther invitation, Cartier paid tribute to it with a necklace reflecting the artwork.

In the 2020s the prowling design of the panther continues to feature in necklaces, bracelets, earrings and of course watches. The design personifies Cartier: stylish, strong and free. The groundbreaking, exotic panther emblem that Jeanne Toussaint envisioned all those years ago is an enduring symbol. It is recognised by Cartier today as “a timeless icon that is both predatory and elegant, restrained yet always ready to pounce”.

Meet The Specialists

Veronica Olszowska

Sale Coordinator, London

Sarah Duncan

Head of Jewellery | London

The Cartier Panther (La Panthère de Cartier)

Our Jewellery Department

Cartier: An 18ct gold ‘Panthère de Cartier’ ring

Cartier: An 18ct gold diamond ‘Panthère de Cartier’ bracelet

An 18ct gold Panthère de Cartier gem set ring, Cartier

Cartier: A ‘Panthère de Cartier' bracelet

An 18ct gold Panthère de Cartier pendant necklace, Cartier

Meet The Specialists

Veronica Olszowska

Sarah Duncan

The Department

Jewellery