CREATING CLASSICS

What goes into the making of a Cartier watch? It's a labour-intensive journey of at least two years as Allyson Klass discovers on a visit to the maison's manufacture in Switzerland.

-  Allyson Klass

Beyond the timeless aesthetics and rich legacy of Cartier timepieces, there is the maison's commanding 355,000sqft manufacture in La B Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, where new classic timepieces are created and assembled. The meeting point of modernity and watchmaking tradition, the Cartier Manufacture is one of the country's largest fully integrated watch production facilities, which we were privileged to visit earlier this April with Anne-Karelle Hocq, who is Cartier Horlogerie's head of Transformation and Communication.

During the tour, Hocq explained briefly the five steps in creating a Cartier watch. The design or development phase begins with sketches, which lead to mock-ups and prototypes. Then comes conception, where the technical aspect of the watch is worked on, followed by industrialisation. "This is where we look into the manufacturing of each component and creating of the tools needed to make them, as well as the assembly of the watch," she added.

Next is the actual watch production, then a final inspection is done on the completed timepieces before they're sent to various retail boutiques. Customer service is the another step. "Cartier watches can be serviced for life. While simpler repairs are done at the boutique, we do more complex work here like making parts for older models that aren't available anymore. This can be special at times because we've received Cartier watches from as far back as the 19th century, so it's like having a piece of history come to us," Hocq elaborated.