Welcome to the Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series on Radio and Podcast.

We have a wonderful show and interview today with Francesca Cartier-Precale.

Francesca Cartier-Precale is a member of the Cartier Dynasty and is author of the new book

The Cartier is the untold story of the family behind the jewelry empire.

Francesca Cartier-Precale will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates and you'll find out more in our show notes today.

We are talking with Francesca Cartier-Precale today and we'll learn about the wondrous and eventful past of the Cartier family.

The Cartier story unfolds against the backdrop of world events and happenings that takes place during time and is amazing in context.

You will love this interview.

In our Smithsonian Associates Interview Series today, we will be talking with Francesca Cartier-Precale and you'll get a glimpse into the Cartier business.

The personal family innovation, the fabulously wealthy often royal clients, as well as the wildly fascinating story of the Cartiers which all begins with Francesca Cartier-Precale Discovering an Old Hidden Trunk.

Finding that trunk of letters and recording my grandfather's memoirs were life-defining moments for me, but in many ways they were just the beginning.

Though I never doubted his version of events, I do recognise that no one's memory of the past is all encompassing.

Even the letters in the trunk just tell part of the story, so I've made every effort to seek out sources from all over the world in order to form,

as best I can, a comprehensive view of the course of events.

As I have turned over more stones and covering unexpected facts along the way, I have found myself constantly reviving my view of the history and seeking out leads I had never considered.

I've tracked down illuminating archives hidden in far, far flung pockets of the world from St. Louis to Tokyo.

I've visited addresses deciphered from spidery handwriting on faded envelopes in London, Paris and New York, imagining what it must have been like to live in those grand old buildings in a different era.

I've retraced my great grandfather's footsteps through eastern lands.

I've visited the same sapphire mines, slept in the same buildings, walked barefoot through the same temples, and met descendants of those he knew,

from Indian Maharajas and Persian Gulf pearl shakes to Sri Lankan gem dealers and American erasers.

I spent hours searching for a hundred-year-old birth death and marriage certificates and studying them closely for clues into the lives of those long gone.

And I have been lucky enough to meet some truly incredible people.

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