Cartier Goes Wild With Bejewelled Novelties At Watches & Wonders 2024
Discover these dazzling wonders up close and personal.
Watches & Wonders 2024 is well underway and Cartier is not messing around. From the shiny, shimmering and splendid Reflection de Cartier bangles to the bejewelled animal high jewellery watches, the Maison is truly letting its impressive savoir faire in watchmaking and jewellery craftsmanship shine like never before. Keep scrolling to check out these blinged out novelties.
REFLECTION DE CARTIER
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Following the success of the Clash [Un]limited and Coussin de Cartier watches, the bold Reflection de Cartier quartz watches continue the brand’s odyssey of magic and illusion through an openwork bracelet concept with architectural lines of reflective gold.
The high-shine finish on yellow, white and rose gold perfectly mirrors the dial, which causes it to look as if time is moving backwards.
“Reflection is a veritable sculpture to wear on the wrist—like a skeletonised chain-link that must be ‘broken’ to discover the time. Disruption is woven throughout: different sections interrupt the visual rhythm and flow, and a variety of angles and faces break up its roundness,” said Marie-Laure Cérède, Cartier’s Jewellery and Watchmaking Creative Director.
The white gold versions explore a combination of snow and inverted settings to create a physically tactile feel and a mesmerising three-dimensional look.
Of course, Cartier also continues to push the envelope with a vibrant mix of coloured stones to add a touch of sensuality to the new silhouette. The first celebrates Louis Cartier’s peacock motif with a mix of chrysoprasus, emeralds, Paraiba tourmalines, obsidian and accentuated with blue-green lacquer.
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The second is a brand new chromatic story for the Maison with iridescent opals, amethysts, spessartite garnets and striking tiger’s eye inserts that add a whole new layer of contrast and texture.
ANIMAL JEWELLERY WATCHES
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These aren’t your average cocktail watches. The Cartier menagerie has delivered a slew of abstract timepieces imbued with the powerful and enthralling spirit of the animal kingdom, in particular the Maison’s emblematic animals—the panther, the tiger, the crocodile and the zebra.
Merging both the coats of the zebra and the crocodile, the fully-paved lonzege-shaped watch, powered by a quartz movement, is a maximalist’s dream come true. The graphic print in enamel and voluptuous curves directly juxtapose the gems—tsavorite, ruby, black spinels and diamonds—on an inverted setting, adding depth and dimension.
The other half of this collection looks as though they are alive, perched on the cases and guarding the watches from predators. Stand-outs include the tiger jewellery watch in rhodium-finished white gold adorned with black spinels, spessartite garnets, yellow and orange sapphires, all of which culminate into the depiction of the tiger’s stripes.
Other highlights are the crocodile and panther watches fitted on navy and iridescent purple leather straps and completely covered in precious stones such as sapphires, mother-of-pearl, diamonds, onyx, rhodolite and spessartite garnets, resembling rainbow-like confections. But, it wouldn’t be wise to bite down on these marvelous creations.