The ring that captivated Romy Schneider, Grace Kelly, and Jean Cocteau turns 100 years old

The Trinity model, three rings in three different golds, is the most recognizable piece of jewelry from Cartier

Three is the number that resonates the most in Cartier’s history. Three were the founders, Louis, Jacques, and Pierre. Three were the historic boutiques, Paris, London, and New York. And three is the perfect number for the maison and for the detail that changes everything. From that very personal Trinity, that design that boils down to the essentials to capture all the magic. Three rings in three different golds in a communion that makes them extremely discreet yet instantly recognizable. That magical trinity, the most emblematic of the maison, has turned one hundred without losing its appeal. On the contrary. Redefining itself. Seeking and finding its space with new designs and XL versions to become a contemporary icon.

It all began in 1924, when the house released that unique ring linking three mobile rings of platinum, yellow gold, and rose gold in a poetic and technical enigma. The legend has it that Louis Cartier invented that maximum fluidity of the mobile rings (round on the outside, smooth on the inside) that overlap and assemble lightly as a gift for his friend Jean Cocteau.Yes, but not quite. Because even though the intellectual was one of the first to sport it, it wasn’t designed especially for him. If this design became groundbreaking, it was because Louis Cartier was deeply immersed in that Paris of artistic and cultural effervescence dominated by the aesthetics of Art Deco and giving way to the first outbursts of surrealism. Romy Schneider, Cary Grant, Alain Delon, and Grace Kelly were also great ambassadors of this piece (which was also released as a bracelet) with which Louis Cartier unwittingly introduced the world to unisex fashion.