HEAT OF THE MOMENT

Karishma Tulsidas takes a tour of Cartier’s Maison des Métiers d’art workshop in Geneva, and finds out how the brand blends cutting-edge innovation with heritage techniques

artier’s newest artistic timepiece is a testament to the pleasure of taking your time. The Ronde Louis Cartier XL Flamed Gold features a flamed gold technique that is being showcased on a watch dial for the first time ever. The brand discovered this craft some three years ago, and embarked on a two-and-a-half-year research and development process to render it on the miniature canvas of a watch dial. So far, only one craftswoman, Swann, is trained in this technique at the maison, and it took her six months to master the craft. Essentially, the silhouette of a panther is “painted” by heating a gold dial at different temperatures to achieve varying shades of metallic blue and brown. As a base, Cartier uses an 18K white gold dial infused with large quantities of iron. The latter is an oxidising agent, and allows the gold to react to the heat and change colour depending on the intensity of the flame. A palette of six hues can be obtained—from beige at the lowest temperature, to a metallic blue at the highest. Swann applies a direct flame to the dial to “colour” the different elements of the panther’s head, achieving varying gradients of different hues by adjusting the temperature. A ceramic tool is then used to scratch the surface of the panther, to emulate the texture of the animal’s fur. It is an exacting and time-consuming process, and Swann takes about six days to complete one dial. The first two days are dedicated to engraving the panther on the gold dial by hand. (The feline features prominently in Cartier’s design lexicon, and is often the subject of the various artistic crafts practised by the French maison.) Meticulous attention to detail and a finely honed sense of intuition are needed to specialise in this craft—swann cannot allow even a microscopic speck of dust to remain on the dial, as this will be noticed when the gold is heated. The colours alter slightly each time she heats the dial, so she also needs to have an instinctive feel for when the colours