You could call it the nail necklace, but if you want to label it properly, say Cartier Juste Un Clou. It was designed in 1970s New York by Aldo Cipullo, the designer of the Cartier Love bracelet. The Italian designer had come out of Italy in the late 1960s when the idea of ”everyday jewelry” was just emerging, and he seized the potential of elevating the mundane. He designed a bracelet that could only be removed with a screwdriver and sketched jewels in the shape of a nail. Today, the idea of wearing jewelry every day feels like a ritual, but back then, it was a quiet revolution. Perhaps that’s why Cartier describes Juste Un Clou in its official description as a piece “that breaks conventions and expresses the essence of its wearer. Original, independent, fearless and free.”
It wouldn’t be hard to see how Meghan Markle could appeal to that sentiment, but whether she’s read the text or not, she’s clearly a fan. Her Juste Un Clou necklace, a yellow gold choker embellished with diamonds, has quickly become one of her signature pieces. It was seen alongside her Ralph Lauren camel-hair ensemble in the CBS interview she and Prince Harry gave to Jane Pauley. And this week, she wore it with a Johanna Ortiz summer dress during her visit to Colombia. It complements a Cartier collection that also includes a Love bracelet and a gold Tank Francaise. Markle also wore diamond stud earrings and a Cartier bracelet at her wedding to Prince Harry in 2011.
A closer look at Meghan’s Cartier earrings on her wedding day.
Is there more to their jewelry choice than just the simple, modern design, the now-signature nail motif, from the House of Cartier’s 177-year history? Someone once called the Juste Un Clou a rebel’s jewel, and it certainly defied the more conservative jewelry standards of its time. And after being reintroduced by Cartier in the early 2000s, it quickly rose to icon status, joining Cartier legends like the Love bracelet, the Trinity bracelet, and the Panther. But could there be more?
It’s difficult to look at a Cartier piece and not think of the unique women who have worn it. In this case, two in particular. Grace Kelly was a commoner, a movie star, yes, but still not a royal when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco and became Princess Grace. That transformation began with a 10-carat emerald-cut diamond engagement ring from Cartier (she famously wore it on screen in The upper society). Cartier was also prominently featured at the wedding itself, in the form of a three-row festoon necklace with alternating round and baguette diamonds that is still in the family. (Her granddaughter, Charlotte Casiraghi, wore it at her own wedding.) And to lay the foundation for the new princess’s jewelry collection? Even more Cartier for the wedding: the Cartier Bains de Mer diamond and ruby tiara.
Grace Kelly on her wedding day in 1956.
Princess Grace’s relationship with the French house lasted her entire life, and the connection was recently back in the public eye when Cartier relaunched the Grain de Café collection. The Cartier Grain de Café style was designed under the direction of the legendary Jeanne Toussaint, who was Cartier’s creative director of jewelry from 1933 to the 1970s. The style is said to have been inspired by the legendary café culture of 1930s Paris and became particularly popular in the 1950s. Princess Grace famously wore her set on Monaco’s official postage stamp and then again on an official visit to the White House in 1961. More recently, her daughter Princess Caroline of Monaco was photographed wearing her mother’s Grain de Café necklace and bracelet.
The connection between this historic French house and a commoner who was welcomed into the royal family is clear and well-documented. And Princess Grace is not the only one. In the Cartier archives, there is another famous woman who was welcomed into the royal family, one whose life story runs even more parallel to Markle’s. Her name was Wallis Simpson. She became the Duchess of Windsor, and she and her husband, the Duke of Windsor, also left royal life behind. Simpson’s taste in jewelry and Cartier is legendary. For her wedding, she wore a Cartier bracelet with jeweled crosses (a piece that remains one of the holy grails of the jewelry industry).
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor on their wedding day. Note Wallis’ bracelet here.
Her husband famously loved giving her gifts from Cartier, including her panther bracelet with diamonds and onyx, the flamingo brooch with sapphires, rubies and emeralds, the panther brooch on the giant emerald, the bib with turquoise and amethyst. The Duke of Windsor often had the Cartier pieces he gave his wife engraved. For example, a ruby and diamond bracelet included the phrase “For our first anniversary on June 3rd.” Note that a first anniversary gift is traditionally made of paper and not from Cartier, but this occasion marked more than just the marriage, it was also a declaration of their independence.
There is absolutely no evidence that Meghan Markle has this history in mind when she wears her Cartier Juste un Clou necklace or her Love bracelet, but for those who know the history of her jewelry, these associations are hard to ignore. The Aldo Cipullo designs she wears express a bold modernity and break with tradition, but they also reflect a larger history of women in the royal world and beyond. Is there something engraved on some of them that might tell us what they mean to her? Perhaps we will know in a few years.
Editor-in-chief Stellene Volandes is a jewellery expert and author of Jeweler: Master and outsider of modern design (Rizzoli).
