French Maître Cartier Grimaud is repositioning itself in the luxury playing card market, bolstered by 175 years of excellence in Parisian artisanal printing.

After two years of research and reinvention, Maison Grimaud unveils a new look with the launch of an e-commerce website in July 2024 and an exclusive corner at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche in Paris from October 2024

The first Grimaud collection offers a range of playing cards (Bridge, Patience, Belote and Tarot) and divinatory arts (Tarot de Marseille and Oracle Belline) designed as elevated cultural and design objects. This line is enhanced with a range of customizable high-end accessories, emphasizing craftsmanship and eco-design.

In the 1840s in Paris, Baptiste Paul Grimaud, then aged 23, ran his own printing manufacture where he developed the characteristics of playing cards as we know them today: total opacity, rounded corners, symmetrical face card portraits and four corner indices. Surrounded by talented artists and skilled craftsmen, Baptiste Paul Grimaud's creations became known worldwide. A year after his death in 1899, the Grimaud business was taken over by his family and received its highest honor: the Grand Prix at the 1900 Universal Exhibition for the quality of its playing cards’ illustrations.

Drawing from a heritage rooted in innovation, creative collaborations and a commitment to artisanal printing methods, Grimaud passionately celebrates traditional craftsmanship. Its playing cards and accessories are made with quality in mind, creating playful and memorable moments you can enjoy anywhere.

Grimaud’s story begins on rue de Bondy in Paris before moving in 1865 to an Art Nouveau workshop at 52 rue de Lancry, which housed the Grimaud factory for the next 90 years. It was within these walls that Baptiste Paul Grimaud worked to develop his artisanal printing technique with his cutting machine and the help of his right-hand man, Félix Simon: an engraver who translated the artists' visions onto engraved wood blocks.

Through shared moments of play and personal fulfilment, Grimaud embodies values well aligned with our times and still under-explored by the luxury industry. Playing cards hold the promise of screen-free and participatory wellbeing a value dear to luxury customers, as evidenced by the rise of eco-responsible travel and the booming sustainable wellness industry. This momentum for allowing time for oneself and others is also reflected by a renewed interest in board games or even the resurgence of crystal healing, a phenomenon not so distant from divinatory arts. This inspired Grimaud to come up with the most elevated offering, backed by a product with unprecedented quality.

During the two-year brand renovation, the team behind Grimaud’s revival conducted extensive research, which included drawing from the archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

"We also reached out to collectors and worked with Christian Rouleau, a card enthusiast and biographer of Paul Baptiste Grimaud, to gather all the clues and inspiration for the brand’s reinvention, says Guillaume Reslou, Vice-President Global Luxury Development at Cartamundi, who spearheaded this renaissance. It became instantly clear that we had an absolute jewel in our hands.”

Grimaud’s commitment is to offer the most beautiful playing cards possible with the finest illustrations and finishes. To achieve this, the team called upon the best French artisans in printing, illustration, embossing, and packaging design. Grimaud cards are produced in the former premises of the French National Printing Office in the Paris region, and the packaging comes from a renowned specialist in the Bastille district.

"The card game is primarily a printing craft, a field in which Grimaud has excelled through innovation, emphasizes Sophie Thomas, co-leader of the project and Director of Luxury and Industries at Cartamundi. It was therefore paramount for us to offer exceptional finishes to pay tribute to the noble work of paper artisans."

For its playing cards, Grimaud commissioned Parisian illustrator Julie Serre to update the iconic Parisian figures on their cards, reflecting the history of Paris with a timeless perspective and infusing personal sensitivity into the characters' attire and accessories.

For its other major launch, Grimaud invited French artist Margot Reverdy to create a captivating new version of the Tarot de Marseille, highlighting the illustrator's artistic touch and her love for engraving, while incorporating nods to the color palette and printing techniques of Grimaud's most historic tarot decks.

Guided by a booklet written by Laetitia Barbier, a French cartomancy specialist based in Brooklyn, users are invited to explore the visual details, secular conventions and spiritual traditions of reading the Tarot de Marseille and the Oracle Belline.

Today, Grimaud positions itself in the category of high-end gift and decorative objects. "Luxury brands often toy with the interior board games category, primarily focussing on producing beautifully executed merch, notes Sophie Thomas, Director of Luxury & Industries at Cartamundi. But to date, there is no luxury brand specifically born and anchored in the field of playing cards or the world of games in general. It is from this observation that Grimaud is reborn today, with a legitimacy and heritage at the crossroads of printing, tradition and culture," she continues.

"The playing card market is estimated to include up to 23 million users in France. Already identified as a printer by card collectors and supported by its historical legitimacy, Grimaud is thus carving its own segment by launching into the international market. The playing card domain offers a still under-exploited playground with limitless possibilities, a pretext for artistic curation through the promotion of talents and the preservation of French craftsmanship. With reinventing Grimaud, we are finally bringing card games out of their drawers," explains Guillaume Reslou.

Luxury product consumers who enjoy card games are some of Grimaud’s key target groups. According to studies by INSEE and Statista, the target group aged 25 to 56 at the intersection of these two demographics adds up to no less than 5 million people in France and 39 million in the United States. "When trialling the product with test groups, we noticed a genuine interest from younger people in a luxury concept around card games, in contrast with the somewhat outdated image long associated with them. We therefore have a mission to offer a product that conveys strong human and cultural values, a product to consider a long-term investment," emphasizes Sophie Thomas.

Designed for Poker (No. 200 and 201), Bridge (No. 300), Patience (No. 600 and 601), Belote (No. 100), and Tarot à Jouer (No. 700), Grimaud’s redefined classic playing cards reference the refined colors used in Grimaud’s historical decks. With a history rooted in innovation and a commitment to artisanal printing methods, these playing cards offer a perfect playability and unmatched durability and quality.

Presented in a paper sleeve and a bespoke box, the cards are offered in a choice of Coral Red or Dolphin Blue backs, with a nasturtium flower motif (iconic coin symbol of Grimaud’s historical Tarot de Marseille) and a monogrammed paper inspired by traditional ‘domino’ woodblock printing methods. Each card is printed on custom-made, black core, casino grade paper and a bespoke varnish ensures improved handling and longer-lasting cards.A ten-color printing technique provides optimal vibrancy and stable colors.

All Grimaud cards feature the statement gold gilded corners introduced by Baptiste Paul Grimaud, who not only pioneered rounded corners but also added gilding to make the cards more resilient to drops and crimping.