THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

Famous for its shape watches, Cartier continues to push the envelope with inventive and beautiful sculptural creations that nod to the past, but always look to the future.

- RENÉE BATCHELOR

Each year at the E annual Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, Cartier has one of the most hotly anticipated booths. Last year’s relaunch of the Baignoire has almost single-handedly reinvigorated the appetite for smaller, dress watches with both women and men. The seamless merging of watch and jewellery into one lust-worthy piece is a feat that shows the French Maison always has something brilliant up its sleeve.

This year, the brand had several outstanding creations including its animal watches, the launch of the Reflection de Cartier, a new jewellerywatch hybrid, plus the new Tortue under the Privé line. We speak to Marie Laure Cérède, Cartier’s creative director of jewellery and watches on the thinking and creative process behind each of the new launches.

CALL OF THE WILD

While the panther might be Cartier’s signature big cat, first gracing a watch in 1914, its new range of animal watches takes on a more abstract form. Featuring a lozenge-shaped dial, the trio of new watches present an impressionistic interpretation of an animal. Says Cérède, “It’s a chimera as inspiration. Instead of sculpting the animal and the shape, we don’t know if it’s a zebra, tiger or a crocodile. We wanted to create a combination of creatures for an almost ‘animalistic architecture’. I think it’s very interesting for the future to insert new DNA to nourish our living heritage.”

The new watch has a voluptuous oval shape inspired by a pebble, while the coloured stones that pave the watch and enamel detailing lend it a graphic look. There is texture, tactility and a three-dimensional quality, a testament to Cartier’s savoir-faire and skill in sculpting and gem-setting.