Alfred Durante (pictured), who, as one of Cartier’s chief designers, became well-known for creating iconic pieces for the company and its celebrity clientele, died on Feb. 4. He was 85.
Durante was born and raised in New York City. According to an online bio, his father was a painter, while his mother designed hats. His illustration skills were recognized by his teachers at New York City’s Art and Design School, and he was chosen to interview at Cartier.
The interview was conducted by Claude Cartier, great-grandson of the company’s founder, in French, which Durante didn’t understand. But they both spoke the language of design.
“Claude asked me to sketch a piece of jewelry, and I had never before sketched jewelry,” Durante later recalled on his website. “I rendered a floral brooch. I remember Claude and his people discussing my design in French, and I was very nervous. What could they be saying?”
Whatever they discussed led him to be chosen as a company apprentice while still in high school.
“I know now that what they saw in me was an innate ability to translate ideas into conceptual designs,” he said. “I used to joke that I was like a visual stenographer, capturing the thoughts of a person and quickly turning them into finished sketches.”
He worked for Cartier for 28 years, rising to vice president of design and production, creating items for Marilyn Monroe, Princess Grace, and Elizabeth Taylor.
“They would come to Cartier and I would sit with [these celebrities] in a side saloon, reserved for private sessions, surrounded by Louis XIV furniture,” he wrote. “To say I was a little bit nervous and intimidated at first would be putting it mildly.
“But I was very conscious of protocol and doing my job, which was to do right by the customer and the company. I found they became comfortable, and I became comfortable, when I learned to let them do the talking, and responded with my sketches, giving life to their jewelry dreams and desires.”
Among his most famous designs are the 69.42 ct. Taylor-Burton ring, immortalized on an episode of Here’s Lucy; the reworking of Mary Queen of Scots’ La Peregrina pearl necklace; and the original Golden Globe award.
His jewelry also appeared in films including The Great Gatsby and The Other Side of Midnight.
He always felt that “jewelry was not meant to simply be an accessory. It should be a star on it own, and stand out and make a statement.”
He is survived by husband William Ryan, and brother Eugene. His great-niece, Christina Jean, is founder and creative director of footwear brand Femmes Sans Peur.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
(Photo courtesy of Christina Jean Durante)
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