The Traditional Arts Meet The Art of Fine Watchmaking: Cartier Maison des Métiers d’Art

Cartier Maison des Métiers d’Art : Where the dial is converted into a canvas

Ronde Louis Cartier with Panthere motif in wood and gold leaf marquetry

Métiers d’Arts - the artistic crafts - is the legacy of invaluable know-how developed over centuries. It is a tradition in Swiss watchmaking and each year manufactures introduce timepieces that highlight their expertise in artisan crafts by producing limited-edition timepieces with highly decorative dials. While haute horlogerie is, in itself, an artistic craft, métiers d’art brings the fine arts into watchmaking. These embody a completely different level of art, which requires the best in craftsmanship, know-how, attention to detail and imagination. Among the manufactures with the most profound interest and know-how of the métiers d’arts is undoubtedly Cartier.

Left: Rotonde de Cartier with lion motif in straw marquetry, Right: Ronde Louis Cartier XL with horse motif in grisaille enamel

Cartier’s ability to create inventive and artistic styles of watchmaking is a definite part of their identity. From its very beginning in 1847, Cartier stood out as having a particular inclination for the métiers d’art. Keeping the tradition alive, Cartier opened Maison des Métiers d’Art in 2014, a renovated farmhouse within sight of the Cartier manufacture La-Chaux-de-Fonds. 

This Maison is completely dedicated to the traditional crafts where dials are converted into canvases. In doing so, Cartier achieved the goal of providing a space that blends the manufacture’s rich history with its current innovative watchmaking techniques. Not only does it intend on reviving techniques from the past but also sets on exploring new territory. 

The principles that presided over the creation of the Maison des Métiers d’Art are threefold - Preserve, Share and Innovate. The artisans from Cartier keep their eyes open for long lost craft techniques and new opportunities to express them.

Among the métiers d’arts which have made their home at the maison are 

• Gold Granulation

• Filigree

• Marquetry

• Gem Setting

• Various kinds of enamelling 

• stone mosaic

Let us explore some of these in more detail

Left: Gold granulation in Rotonde de Cartier, Right: Filigree with gem-setting in Ronde Louis Cartier

Gold Granulation

Cartier has deeply studied the ancient Etrucasan art of gold granulation which involved creating miniscule beads of gold. These beads are assembled one by one into the desired motif. 

Filigree

Filigree is another ancient skill revitalised by the maison and is as intricate as gold granulation. It sees Cartier’s craftsmen working with fine wires of gold and platinum to create miniature sculptures.

Left: Grisaille enamel technique in Rotonde de Cartier, Right: Straw marquetry in Rotonde de Cartier

Enamelling

One of the most loved forms of métiers d’arts is enamelling which can be done with different techniques. The skilled enamellers from Cartier don’t limit themselves to a single style of the ancient craft. They work across a spectrum of related techniques including champlevé, cloisonné, plique-à-jour, grisaille and grisaille gold paste. 

Marquetry

In addition to enamelling, Maison des Métiers d’Art also excels in marquetry which involves combining tiny pieces of rose petals, straw or stone to create richly textured birds, panthers, lions or anything that the artisans could dream of. 

While gems setting is far from a forgotten art, Cartier prides itself in the traditional jewellery making know-how. Cartier’s master gem-setters excel in a variety of gem-setting styles, from the common bezel setting and claw setting, to more exotic ones like cutdown pave setting and snow setting. Cartier’s master craftsmen and women accomplish these skills and bring the favorite motifs of the maison like the panther, flora and fauna to sparkle with life.

Cartier’s collection to be entirely dedicated to métiers d’art was first unveiled in 1999, and the manufacture has repeated this performance every year. The Cartier artisans reveal new Métiers d’Art , using special techniques and showcasing different reinterpretations on the panther, which was first introduced to the collection in 1914.

This year, Cartier unveiled two new Métiers d’Art creations, created around the natural and precious exchanges between marquetry craftsmen, jewellers, enamellers, gem-setters and miniature painters.

Ronde Louis Cartier Straw and Gold Marquetry Creation

Made entirely by the marquetry craftsman from Maison des Métiers d’Art, the Ronde Louis Cartier creation unveils the technique of straw and gold marquetry to create a rendering of a life-like panther on the dial. An adventurous, never-before-seen undertaking that required the marquetry craftsmen to be trained in gold work by the jewellers from the Maison des Métiers d’Art. The combination of the various elements require not just concentration but also the thoughtful arrangement of each straw piece, gold strand to create the image of this powerful feline on the creation.

Ronde Louis Cartier Enamel Filigree Creation

Combining filigree with enameling, the artists first create the artwork frame, which is a panther in a bamboo forest amidst a snowy evening. The background is done in miniature painting for the sky and bamboo in the backdrop. The outline of the panther is created in gold wire. The enamel powder is heated, the glass stretched to take the shape of a bamboo, then frozen and fixed on the dial by tiny strands of yellow gold. 

Both creations are issued in limited series and numbered at 30 pieces. They are powered by the 430MC manual winding caliber, a familiar Cartier movement found in many of its métiers d’art creations.

The métiers d’art division has always been an important part of Cartier’s manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and has steadily grown since the maison created an entire building for this division. From Cartier’s métiers d’art facility truly stunning timepieces emerge that highlight the maison’s commitment to outstanding design and creativity. It also highlights Cartier’s commitment in preserving the traditional, almost forgotten skills of the métiers d’art.

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