Cartier first featured a panther in its designs in 1914.
The motif initially appeared not as a fully sculpted animal, but as a spotted panther-skin pattern rendered with diamonds and onyx on a wristwatch. Cartier and other historical accounts identify this 1914 creation as the beginning of the panther’s relationship with the Maison.
That date is sometimes confused with later milestones. In the 1930s, Jeanne Toussaint—known as “La Panthère”—helped make the feline a central Cartier symbol and gave it greater artistic prominence. The first fully three-dimensional panther jewels came later, including a celebrated 1948 brooch made for the Duchess of Windsor.
Thus, 1914 refers to the panther’s first appearance in Cartier’s design language, not to the launch of the modern Panthère watch collection. The enduring motif grew from an abstract spotted pattern into realistic gold and gemstone animals.