Cartier to Offer Cigarette Worthy of Rodeo Drive

Cartier has plans for a diamond in the puff.

A pricey cigarette bearing the Cartier name and logo--once reserved for the likes of fine jewelry--makes its American debut in the Los Angeles area this week. The cigarette already is sold in Europe. If enough Los Angeles area smokers buy it, Cartier cigarettes will eventually be sold in other U.S. cities.

The brand, which will come in specially designed packs with Cartier’s familiar “double C” logo, will be made in the United States by Philip Morris under a licensing agreement with the French company, House of Cartier. Executives say the brand will cost about twice the price of conventional cigarettes--more than $3 per pack.

“It’s not for everyone,” said Ellen Merlo, vice president of marketing services for Philip Morris U.S.A. Indeed, Cartier won’t even be sold at the corner drugstore.

The company says Cartier cigarettes will be sold mostly in luxury hotels, fine restaurants and at tobacco specialty stores. It will also be delivered--by the carton--to smokers with major credit cards who want the swanky cigarettes sent to their homes.

Of course, not everyone plans on placing an order. “Smoking is no longer seen as sophisticated in America,” said John F. Banzhaf III, executive director of the Washington-based anti-smoking lobby, Action on Smoking and Health. “Cartier must think cigarette smokers are pretty stupid,” he said. “What are Cartier smokers going to get--cancer at twice the price?’