“Under the direction of the French architect Thierry W. Despont, the Cartier house has been wholly transformed into a thing of rational and distinctly Gallic beauty. Gone is the welter of counters, the uneven levels, the tiny dead-end salons and the corporate cubicles.

Replacing them is a luxuriant New York version of a grand Parisian hôtel particulier, rational in plan and replete with airy salons set in telescoping enfilade. Paneled in limed oak, adorned with gilded plaster Art Deco-style friezes, these rooms all surround a brand-new and theatrically grand central staircase flanked by private salons. And on each ascending floor, a shopper processes through the stations of the luxury-goods cross: accessories, stationery, watches.”

–The New York Times