Objects Of Desire

Arriving just in time for the year-end festivities, Cartier’s new collection of objects might just be the perfect expression of love. Here, Cartier’s director of style, image and patrimony Pierre Rainero, shares how the collection fits perfectly into a maison known for watches and jewellery

- Caroline Suganda

Cartier has always been known as a watch and jewellery maison, what role does this collection play for the brand?

It’s true that the awareness of Cartier as a maison of jewellery and fine watchmaking is much higher than it is as a maison of precious objects and accessories. But in fact, Cartier was born making and creating objects since the beginning. When Cartier was born in the mid 19th century, the philosophy was to propose beautiful objects to the clientele, to accompany the life of our clients. The maison is also built upon craftsmanship and creativity. These objects are a way of experiencing our craftsmanship, [they] also express our creativity and style and state our point of view — that’s why this category has always been very important to Cartier.

Do the earlier objects inspire the objects we see today? Is there relevance in that sense?

Yes, especially [when it comes to] craftsmanship. For instance, we are presenting objects made of wood with lacquer or with porcelain. You’ll find [things] that are in line with objects we already created in the past. In terms of design, while they are totally new, they are linked to other categories of object, like the Panthère for instance, or the associations of colours like red, green and gold. So even if you perceive it as a new creation, you will recognise that it’s Cartier.