Dressed To Impress

A look at Cartier's Fine Watchmaking division and the woman heading it.

- Sean Mossadeg

I’VE NEVER FELT NERVOUS interviewing anyone until I met Carole Forestier-Kasapi. I must profess, i am a big fan of her work – in a field that’s been dominated by men since its birth, her position as head of Cartier’s department of movement creation and international standing separates her from the rest of the herd.

Her impressive curriculum vitae reads off like a who’s who of the watchmaking world. She won the top prize at a movement design competition sponsored by Breguet when she was fresh out of watchmaking school. Then she joined the famous renaud & Papi movement design firm before her term at richemont. Even her linkedin profile shows off16 different patents in watchmaking that she has filed.

Despite being into her 18th year at Cartier and her 12th year as director of movement creation, Forestier-Kasapi has yet to slow down. This year’s pieces were typical of her and the maison’s work.

“The design language of Cartier doesn’t change. When we want to create something new, it has to represent the same elegance that all Cartier pieces showcase. It tends to be a challenge when we want to create a watch so the departments (movements versus cases) bicker a little,” she answers when asked what the biggest hurdles are in creating new showstoppers for Cartier.