Jeanne Toussaint

Gem Pursuit is back with season 6, Golden Girls - Unsung Heroines of Jewellery! We jet off to Paris for our first excursion (of many) this season, to find out more about one of the first women to blaze a trail in the jewellery industry - Jeanne Toussaint! Appointed Director of Fine Jewellery by Louis Cartier in 1933, Jeanne Toussaint was the original Art Deco tastemaker who's incredible eye for style and beauty catapulted her to the top of the biggest jewellery house in the world. We take a walk around an exhibit on the influence of Islamic Art on Cartier at the Musée Des Arts Decoratifs before visiting the Parisian office of Olivier Bachet, one of the world's foremost experts in the history of Cartier, about Jeanne Toussaint's early life, her controversial legacy, her relationship with Louis Cartier, her rivalry with the designer Charles Jacqueau and much, much more. www.courtville.ie A Tape Deck podcast.