Geared for Success
Cartier redefines elegance with its latest male-skewed collection, Drive de Cartier. Karishma Tulsidas gets in the front seat with the brand’s image, style and heritage director Pierre Rainero to find out more
Earlier this year, Cartier added a new collection, Drive de Cartier, to its evergrowing stable of timepieces. The French maison had entered the arena of watchmaking head-on some eight years ago with the introduction of a fine watchmaking department, proving its chops with innovative haute horlogerie pieces like the Mysterious movement and the Astrocalendaire.
In doing so, Cartier had the higher-end of the horological spectrum covered with pieces conceived by genius watchmaker Carole Forestier-kasapi; simultaneously, it captured the attention of its female clientele with blinged-out versions of its signature collections including Ballon Bleu, Tank and Santos. It has successfully gained male recognition with chronographs, dive watches and annual calendars, while flying its flag of being a proud and legitimate high jewellery maison. Without compromising on its reputation as “the jeweller of kings, and the king of jewellers”, it has added the missing piece of the puzzle with the Drive de Cartier, a collection that speaks solely to men.
When we met Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s image, style and heritage director, he affirms that the premise of Drive is masculinity, elegance and distinction—a philosophy imbued in the name of the collection.
He says, “It’s not in our culture to give collection names that are different from the shape [for instance, Tank, Ballon Bleu and Clé are all evocative of the design], but we thought that given the originality of this shape, Drive is a good name. Because you still have the allusion to masculinity with the universe of the car, but at the same time, you can say that you have the inner drive to wear something original.”
And Drive is certainly original. It is the first time that Cartier has attempted to undertake the design of a cushion-shaped timepiece; it is a tricky balance to manage, combining the geometrics of circle and square without succumbing to the natural recourse to emphasise on one or the other. In fact, internally, Cartier does not even call Drive “cushion-shaped”, although the silhouette is unmistakably so. “Introducing new shapes to the watch world is something very ‘Cartier’,” adds Rainero.
With its curved sides and slightly angular edges, it easily appeals to gentlemen from all walks of life: bankers cutting high-profile deals on Wall Street; the likes of style icon Nick Wooster at Paris Fashion Week; or the
next under-30 technopreneur billionaire who navigates business meetings in jeans and a hoodie. It is a contemporary timepiece for the contemporary man.
The collection also represents a series of firsts for Cartier: the first non-unisex collection, the first time it is not inspired by a piece in its archives, and the first time the initial offerings are available in stainless steel versions (in addition to rose gold). But it is still undoubtedly Cartier in its execution and refined aesthetics.
Apart from boasting three in-house movements, it features recognisable Roman numerals, elegantly guilloched dials, and an unusually shaped crown in the form of a bolt.
“Cartier is all about elegance and distinction, and Drive appears to be the epitome of that idea,” says Rainero. “I don’t mean it in a nostalgic way, but in a contemporary way. It’s a challenge for men in general to define contemporary elegance. Even for fashion, the reference for elegance tends to be in the past. So it’s an interesting way to think about what is contemporary elegance for men today. To me, it’s not necessarily sophistication. It is respect towards others.”
Stylistic elements ensure that the automatic timepiece sits sleekly on the wrist. To give the illusion of slimness, it is tapered at the sides, while shorter lugs ensure that the 40mm case fits just right on wrists of varying sizes.
Will it find a place in Cartier’s hall of fame? Time will tell, but its sheer wearability and ability to straddle the fine line between voguish and classic seem to point to a resounding yes.