Anderson believes that even if she had not been selected for the award, it would still have been a win. “Being part of the Cartier Awards is [already] a part of the expansion process,” she says. “Being here and able to share on a global standpoint provides another opportunity to say, ‘These here are my discoveries and who they could benefit.’” For the winners, the next step in being award laureates, as they are called, is becoming part of a broad community of women entrepreneurs. The network that has been built up over the years is certainly formidable. Over the past decade, the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards has supported the enterprises of 166 women from 46 countries, which has in turn created more than 5,000 jobs. “Now, any small business can be connected to any part of the world, even on a different scale,” Vigneron says. In a way, the awards are also inspiring change within Cartier. “With the awards, our maison aims to contribute to women’s empowerment efforts worldwide, and thus mirror Cartier’s values: curio sity, audacity, caring for others and willpower to lead the change. “[The entrepreneurs] are very inspirational. They create fantastic new business models, and can also be a source of inspiration for us. They’re so good at problem- solving, so even if we don’t tie up with them, we can learn [from them].” More importantly, he adds, “sharing with these women about their dreams and lives is part of who we are”.
Cartier, founded in 1847 in Paris, is renowned for being a “jeweller to kings”, after Edward VII was said to have ordered 27 tiaras for his coronation in 1902. It is famed for its Panthère collections, which date from 1914. Among the celebrated pieces are the onyx and diamond panther bracelet created for Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. Cartier is also the creator of fine watches, beginning with its first men’s wristwatch in 1904, made for an aviator friend of Louis Cartier, one of the grandsons of the brand’s founder. The Santos timepiece, with its square, flat bezel, is a design that still endures. The brand today is part of the stable of the Richemont Group. Vigneron’s appointment to the helm of Cartier International comes at a time when luxury brands are battling for the hearts of a new generation of consumers across the world. Since he started in January 2016, he has set about re-energising the venerable luxury house, stopping at just about every Cartier office around the world to meet its people. In the short time that he was in this region for the awards, Vigneron met staff in Bangkok, Singapore and Sydney. “It was my first meeting [with] the [Australian] brand president. Because it was too far, no one had ever gone there. We spent two days of intense sharing. And it was so refreshing.” In his view, this culture of sharing is what the company needs. In turn, it would strengthen Cartier’s culture and serve to keep employees engaged and committed. “It’s [sharing], apart from coming in to work, and [doing] things that are meaningful to them. Then, they will be inspired and [find] meaning and be happy to come to work,” Vigneron explains. “What people say about millennials not being engaged is not true. If you give them the right opportunity to do something exciting, then they are.”