The Cartier New York flagship was not purchased with millions of dollars, but rather with a pearl necklace. In 1914, he had a stroke of real estate luck when one of his double-strand pearl necklaces caught the eye of millionaire Morton Plant’s second bride-to-be. Cartier and Plant bartered a trade: Cartier’s six-story apartment building plus $400,000 cash for the prime location on Fifth Avenue and East 52nd Street. Plant and his fiancée were eager to leave the "commercialized" area where they resided on the fashionable block of 5th Avenue and 52nd Street. Cartier meanwhile was keen to move into the bustling playground of society’s upper crust. Plant and Cartier bartered a trade for the six-story apartment building.