Tortue Grand Modèle décor cacatoès

Cartier d’Art: a devotion to the artistic crafts, ever richer and more complex

The artistic crafts have always been at the heart of the Cartier story, allowing the demands of artisans to dictate the introduction of new skills, materials and techniques in watchmaking.

These crafts are at the root of unique pieces fashioned in the hushed, intimate atmosphere of workshops, where talented artists devote themselves entirely to the task of creation and to the culmination of their fastidious efforts.

Each of these efforts is marked by the same refinement, the same exploration of forms, volumes and colours, the desire to create inspired watches whose every detail is a badge of true dedication.

A privileged dialogue emerges, a continuous exchange between the constraints of watchmaking and traditional and revived techniques. Curiosity asserts itself, driven by a burning devotion to the rare, seminal skills of these crafts.

The creative and technical challenge is once more accepted and overcome by expertise and unrelenting passion that, in the midst of this arduous task, reveal the force of its precision and perfection.

Large model Tortue watch, cockatoo motif, engraved mother-of-pearl, champlevé enamel

Shaded mother-of-pearl and contrasting enamel
Cartier found inspiration for this watch in the shimmer and iridescent translucence of mother-of-pearl. The dial is layered with slivers of mother-of-pearl that evoke the soft feel of plumage.

The engraving process is delicate and challenging. Mother-of-pearl of appropriate translucence and tone is selected and cut into slivers. A high-precision burin is used to engrave these slivers of mother-of-pearl with a feather motif. The craftsman can thus produce subtle shading, fading from pastel pink to cloudy white, and achieve an illusion of dimension and depth.

Cartier contrasts this soft palette with bold colours: yellow for the comb and black for the eye and beak, all of which are fashioned in champlevé enamel. This fusion of controlled colour and naturalist design requires almost 50 hours of work. The realistic yet fantastical cockatoo seems to rise out of the frame with the urge to flap its wings, illuminated by the two rows of brilliant-cut diamonds that surround the dial.

This watch is issued in a limited-edition series of 80 timepieces.