Adirect descendant of the Cartier family, Francesca Cartier Brickell is tracing the origins of the Cartier legacy, and her findings have led her to Sri Lanka. The luxury brand Cartier was founded by Louis-François Cartier in 1847 in France. His grandson, Jacques Cartier, who ran the London branch in the early 20th century, frequently travelled to Sri Lanka, jotting down his exploits in diaries that Francesca has inherited. Together with Ayura, a long-established supplier of precious stones to the world’s top brands, she has been visiting the sapphire mines to which her ancestors travelled over a century ago. Francesca speaks about her experience in visiting the places her great-grandfather wrote about, and the Cartier legacy.
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