Trait d'Eclat Watch

High Jewellery watches - Lush renderings of nature

For the 2017 edition, Cartier has chosen to showcase its dual fields of expertise, watchmaking and jewellery, in a glittering display of gemstones. The crossover between the two arts has inspired a dialogue which, driven by shared passion, creates beautiful shapes in pieces designed to stand the test of time.

Bringing stones to life

New horizons beckon, ushering in ground-breaking and breathtaking compositions that ingeniously unite jewellery and watchmaking. The High Jewellery watch realises its full potential in these spectacular timepieces that honour the legacy of the jeweller’s art with the skill of the master watchmaker. Cartier assiduously sources, matches and even re-cuts stones in its quest to reveal the gem’s soul. This creative process goes beyond aesthetics or technical milestones – Cartier breathes life into these stones, transfiguring the splendour of these precious materials.

Cartier draws on this dual perspective to showcase a wealth of inspiration in its gems. The same incomparable expertise is deployed whether abstract or figurative, evident within the menagerie and the floral style.

TRAIT D’ÉCLAT WATCH

Total uniformity of colour

This Cartier evening watch was inspired by a set of 15 rubies. A glittering accessory designed for the dawdling hours of the day, dusk descends yet the fire of the gemstones appears to ignite. The 15 rubies, with a total weight of 24.93 carats, exhibit a remarkably uniform colour: an intense deep red with a diamond-like sparkle partnered by the orangey-pink hue specific to Mozambican rubies.

A flash of light

When carefully lined up for inspection on a workshop bench, the gems form a neat row, but they seem to slumber. Shaken awake by the touch of a hand, the stones suddenly blaze to life as the rubies catch fire in the light, their jostled profiles exposed in the chaos. It is this flash of fire, described in French as a “trait d’éclat”, that the master craftsmen reproduce in the finished piece. The rubies weave around the watch in a glittering ribbon accentuated with baguette-cut diamonds, curling around and caressing the dial that softly blends into the composition. Slipped into place on the wrist, the watch reveals the time with a dainty and feminine touch.

This creation brings together two beloved Cartier themes: rubies and ribbons. The ruby plays a key role in the history of Cartier style. Predominant in sumptuous commissions for Maharajas in the early 20th century, the ruby was later given pride of place in exquisitely feminine sets of jewellery designed by the Maison. In her official wedding photographs in April 1956, Princess Grace wore a Cartier tiara decorated with diamond arabesques and a trio of cabochon rubies. The removable motifs in this lace-like piece comprised a set of brooches that the Princess wore for the rest of her life. Elizabeth Taylor was gifted a suite of rubies interlaced with diamonds by her husband Mike Todd on “a day of perfect love” in 1957. Cartier, keen to explore new horizons and capture the spirit of the age, takes the ruby as inspiration in expanding its repertoire of feminine jewellery with a revival of a classic symbol of sensuality: the ribbon.