Cartier Opening Is a Diamond Jubilee

Hate to gush, but Cartier’s flirtation with France on Saturday was as good as gala-giving gets in this country.

The occasion was the opening of the new Cartier store at South Coast Plaza. The lucky guests? About 500 Orange County Performing Arts Center buffs--namely, members of its Center Stars and Performing Arts Fraternity support groups. (And a few VIP extras with pals. If you weren’t there, check your social IQ. You may be out of step.)

The bash was a bi-level affair that began with sips of Veuve Cliquot bubbly and peeks at the Art Deco jewels Cartier keeps in its Geneva archives. Among the breathtaking pieces was a blinding diamond tiara that converts to a brooch and two bracelets; the engraved gold cigarette case Winston Churchill gave his son, Randolph; and a diamond brooch that converts to earrings (Louis Cartier, the inventor of the wristwatch, was famous for his convertible jewelry). The collection will remain on display through Oct. 18.

After they ogled the ice under glass (with a bevy of guards standing by), guests descended a staircase and entered a gala environment that can only be described as high-style French.

Everywhere guests looked they saw white: pristine white carpet, white swags of raw silk, a white lacquer grand piano, fresh white flowers (orchids, mums, Casablanca lilies, roses) and the cocktail tables and chairs were covered with white-on-white silk coverlets. Even the bandstand was done up in white silk.

For relief, Cartier designers used touches of gold lame. The ruffled skirts on the bar and the buffet tables--which held a groaning board of dainty delicacies created by Along Came Mary--were of gold lame. And so was the fabric wrapped around the tiny vases that held scarlet roses (at each cocktail table).

And then, Cartier pulled off its own version of “Cats.” A pack of panthers (Cartier’s trademark) swept into the party wearing $15 million in jewels and stood atop a pedestal. (Beforehand, the models had been warned that if approached by aggressive guests, they were to cross their arms over their chests and grab their shoulders with their hands.)

“I like this; I’m a cat lover,” purred guest Jim Dean.

Standing by was an army of guards and Simon Critchell, president and chairman of Cartier.

What’s the Cartier look? “Style,” Critchell said. “Style that has a certain distinction to it. You don’t wear Cartier jewelry just for show.

“When you wear Cartier, you’re saying: ‘I know about beautiful things.’ ”