Heritage

1 Arnaud Bamberger looks on as Prince Charles presents the cup to Adolfo Cambiaso 2 Prince Harry, Satnam Dhillon, Malcolm Borwick and Nacho Gonzalez 3 Her Majesty The Queen and Howard Hipwood 4 Glen Gilmore

Associated with polo for over a century, Cartier marks the silver jubilee of one of the sport’s grandest international celebrations – the Cartier International – in style, reports Herbert Spencer

From the Himalayas to the Alps, from the steamy jungles of Nepal to the deserts of Arabia, from Florida’s Gold Coast to the People’s Republic of China – and in a royal park in England – for more than a quarter of a century the name Cartier has been associated with polo, both traditional and exotic. No other corporate sponsor of the sport has been so much and for so long in evidence worldwide.

The jewel in Cartier’s polo crown is, of course, the Hurlingham Polo Association’s Cartier International, the world’s biggest one-day polo event, which celebrated its silver jubilee this year.

Arguably the world’s most famous jeweller, Cartier is certainly one of the largest, with some 200 branches in 125 countries. Louis-François Cartier founded the firm in 1847 when he took over the small Paris shop where he was apprenticed. Over the next 50 years, he and his descendants established Cartier’s international credentials with upmarket shops in Paris, London, New York and Moscow.

Because of Cartier’s flair for artistic and exquisite creations in precious metal and

1 Morning Game presentation between winners Spain and HRH 2 Julian Hipwood (left) and Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers 3 Arnaud Bamberger applauds Prince Charles presenting to Luke Tomlinson

gemstones, royal patronage followed. The jeweller was granted its first royal warrants by Great Britain’s King Edward VII and Spain’s Alfonso XIII in 1904; these were followed by warrants from the monarchs of Portugal, Siam, Russia, Greece, Italy and others.

Cartier’s connections with polo date back to the early 20th century, when the firm made specially commissioned, polo-themed jewellery for, among others, India’s poloplaying maharajas. In 1925 the firm created a small winged horse figure in gold, to be presented as a trophy at a polo event in England the following year. Today a replica of that 1920s Pegasus is the prize for the most valuable player in the Coronation Cup match at the Cartier International.

Fast-forward to the 1980s, a decade in which the sport was booming as never before, when Cartier first became a polo sponsor. Its sponsorship began in 1983 when Ralph Destino, CEO of Cartier Inc in the US, inaugurated the high-goal Cartier International Polo tournament at Palm Beach Polo & Country Club on Florida’s Gold Coast.

In England the following year, Cartier became the title sponsor of the HPA’s International Day, an annual event that started at Cowdray Park Polo Club in 1971, before moving to Guards Club in Windsor Great Park to be closer to London. By 1983 the event was already well established and drawing 10–15,000 spectators to watch England teams play a succession of visiting national sides for the 1911 Coronation Cup and the Silver Jubilee Cup. A big draw was the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, who presented the trophies, and Prince Charles, who played for England’s second team.

Since Cartier took over sponsorship of the HPA event in 1984, the firm has put its own elegant stamp on the day, building it into one of the quintessential sporting and social events of the English season. It has seen crowds of 25,000 plus, far more than have attended any other polo event in the world.

Having covered the HPA’s first International Day in 1971 and then so many of Cartier’s days over the years, I was invited by Arnaud Bamberger, managing director of Cartier UK, to join in the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Cartier International Polo. I was just one of more than 600 specially invited guests – Cartier clients and leading lights from the worlds of fashion and showbusiness – asked to lunch in the Cartier marquee.

Some 20,000 people gathered at the Guards’ Club for the event this year. Around

the Queen’s Ground, with its Royal Box, was a sea of white marquees: Cartier’s centerpiece at one end, the HPA’s at the other.

The day kicked off in the morning with a 21-goal match for the Golden Jubilee Trophy between two teams of leading professionals from the England squad (those not selected for the senior national team playing for the Coronation Cup). Audi sponsored the Prince of Wales’s team and the Financial Times supported the Hurlingham side,which won the match 8–3.

Then came lunch, as thousands of attendees laid out picnics or sat down to champagne fare. At Cartier, the lining of the marquee roof was decorated with 74 large photographic images documenting the event’s 25 year history.

After lunch I hitched a ride in the back of Arnaud Bamberger’s golf cart, which took him across the Queen’s Ground to the Royal Box for the afternoon’s events. The big parade before the Coronation Cup main match between Argentina, sponsored by EFG, and England (see The Action pages 50–51) featured a red-coated military band, the Household Cavalry, young players from Pony Club Polo and huntsmen with their hounds. Royalty was represented by HRH the Prince of Wales, who presented the trophies and prizes together with Arnaud Bamberger.

Prior to that, Prince Charles met a group of players from various countries who had competed for the Coronation Cup in Cartier Internationals over the past 25 years. The new Cartier 25th Anniversary Polo Award went to Julian Hipwood, the former 9-goal player who captained England for 20 years. The Prince also presented the HPA’s Ferguson Cup to Charlie Hanbury, as most promising young player.

1 (from left) Henry Brett, Andrew Hine, Luke Tomlinson and Will Lucas 2 The Grenadier Guards 3 Mauri warriors 4 Goldie Hawn and Jane Seymour 5 Claudia Schiffer and David Copperfi eld 6 Jaime Huidobro, José Donoso, Martin Zegers and José Zegers