A lively and inviting temple of luxury, Cartier’s revamped Parisian flagship at 13 rue de la Paix – or 13 Paix, for short – boasts 10 cosy salons spread across its first four floors for visitors to lounge in. Each one has been designed with a different theme – a homage to how the maison is one of many diverse decorative styles. Here, the Faune et Flore (or flora and fauna) salon on the second storey, which is dedicated to high jewellery, has been kitted out to offer privacy and comfort for the optimal jewellery-viewing experience.

The address 13 rue de la Paix in Paris has been the heart of Cartier since it opened in 1899 – the same year when Louis Cartier joined the business only to help transform it into one of the world’s most powerful jewellers. It was he who decided to set up a boutique and design atelier on site and later invited Jeanne Toussaint – the woman behind pieces such as the Panthere – to enter as creative director. And just like that, the location became the birthplace of many of the brand’s most iconic designs. So naturally, its imposing original black marble facade has been kept intact during the recent revamp while Mathilde Laurent, designer of Cartier perfumes, worked with the floral styling specialist Studio Mary Lennox on a cascading botanical display for the windows.

One of the main goals during the renovation of 13 Paix was to give the cavernous building an openness that allows visitors to move about freely and access once-secret spaces. One such area is the Residence on the fifth and top floor right beneath the rooftop (pictured). Formerly out of bounds, it’s been decorated by the French architect Laura Gonzalez into a reception and living space complete with a dining room, salon, large kitchen and winter garden for entertaining and hosting events.

Just like in the chicest Parisian apartments, the interior is adorned with artisanal furniture, fabrics and crafts, such as an embroidered screen (pictured) featuring Cartier’s menagerie jointly created by the legendary Gohard workshops and paper and textile designer Lucie Toure.

With Cartier being a house that celebrates craftsmanship in all it does, 13 Paix has been designed to honour savoir-faire at nearly every turn, with the work of almost 40 traditional ateliers on display. Among them: two nature-inspired marquetry panels (pictured) crafted out of leather scraps leftover from Cartier’s own creative process by the textile and embroidery studio Baque Molini.

Pictured here is a 184 cm-long plaster panel that takes its intricate pattern from a 1909 bodice – hand-moulded by the sculptor Etienne Rayssac and displayed in the Archives department on the top floor.

A glass roof above the atrium at the back of the building allows natural light to flood in, illuminating and connecting every one of the six floors of 13 Paix. The boutique sits on the ground and first two levels, while the third offers services such as maintenance, repairs and personalisation (customer service seldom looks this fancy).

On the fourth storey is Cartier’s high jewellery workshop and on the fifth, besides the Residence, are the archives (pictured). The efforts of three teams of architects, everything is said to have been designed to ensure sustainability and to meet all the conditions needed to obtain the highest grade of BREEAM environmental certification.

The revamped Cartier flagship at 13 rue de la Paix in Paris is a treat for aesthetes and cultural buffs, with its thematic salons each housing its own artistic and historical treasures. For example, the Jean Cocteau salon on the ground floor (pictured) features the French poet’s academician sword from the Academie Francaise and one of his verses that namedrops Cartier inscribed onto a wooden panel by the heritage lacquer specialist Atelier Midavaine.

On the same level is the Louis Cartier salon (pictured) that revives the visionary’s office and houses rare books and archival artefacts.

And over in the Art Deco salon on level two, the centrepiece is a stone marquetry panel by Herve Obligi inspired by a bracelet from Cartier’s 2014 high jewellery collection and crafted from cinnabar, onyx, rock crystal, quartz, palladium, gold and chrysoprase.

This article is adapted from a story in the Jan/Feb 2023 Art & Music Edition of FEMALE