THE CURATED LIFE
THE WORLD’S GREAT jewelry houses follow the migratory patterns of what we used to call the jet set; around this time of year, they start contemplating the seasonal move to the Côte d’Azur, from where they will scatter out to the other resorts of the Mediterranean—Porto Cervo, Marbella and so on.
Their presence can be felt at parties during the Cannes Film Festival at the luxury Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, and later in the summer at the Marbella Club and in private sprawling villas or, if you prefer the language of international real estate agents, “elegant beachfront estates.” For a few weeks last summer, Cartier hosted its top clients at one such venue on Cap d’Antibes, a peninsula between Cannes and Nice, for an exhibition of its high jewelry. The atmosphere was part house party, part sales party—a chance for women to wear the jewels they already own and for them, or their admirers, to acquire some more. I’ve been to a couple of these parties, and competition to bag the best pieces can become pretty fierce.