Blurring Lines, Breaking Boundaries

Cartier’s creative director of jewellery and watches Marie-Laure Cérède on the maison’s commitment to creating statement-making timepieces for discerning luxury consumers

- Annabel Tan

There is no denying that in the world of haute horlogerie, Cartier is one of the most popular and prestigious names today. At the helm of the French luxury maison’s watch and jewellery departments is Marie-Laure Cérède, whose innovative approach to creating its masterpieces has in turn shaped the wider landscape of luxury watches.

Speaking to Tatler Singapore at the Watches and Wonders 2024 fair in Geneva, Switzerland, this April, Cérède offered insights into Cartier’s latest novelties, design philosophy, and the future of watchmaking.

Among its peers in the luxury watch world, Cartier has long stood out for its dual expertise in watch- and jewellery-making and Cérède is leveraging this unique position to create timepieces that defy these traditional categorisations. “We have a unique position in the watchmaking industry,” she explains. “We need to capitalise on it by merging our two expertises of watchmaking and jewellery by not forgetting that a watch has to be functional, while infusing jewellery expertise and techniques in the pieces.”

This fusion is evident in some of Cartier’s latest creations launched at Watches and Wonders 2024, such as the Reflection de Cartier watch, which is worn as a cuff bangle on the wrist. On one end of the open bangle is a watch dial, and on the other is a polished reflective gold surface that mirrors the time. This creates a playful take on time, which on the mirror surface appears to move backwards. It is a perfect example of Cérède and Cartier’s approach to modern watchmaking—functional, yet unabashedly artistic.