GRÉGOIRE P. BLANCHE
Walking Tall
WHEN PEOPLE HEAR the name Cartier, they immediately think of jewellery. But what is often overlooked about the famous Parisian maison is that it has a proud history of watchmaking. It was Cartier that created the first ladies’ jewellery bracelet-watch in 1888 and the first practical wristwatch, the Santos, in 1904. The company now boasts more than 30 in-house movements and its stunning watch collections include the celebrated Tank, first launched in 1919, and Pasha de Cartier, introduced in 1985.
Grégoire P. Blanche, Regional Managing Director of Cartier for Southeast Asia and Australia, visited Jakarta recently for the official opening of his company’s new store in Plaza Senayan. He began his professional career in 1996 with Cartier in Switzerland. He graduated from Euromed in France in 1998 and obtained an MBA from Newcastle University Business School the following year. Then he moved to Miami, as Marketing Manager for Latin America and Caribbean. In 2008, he became Retail Development Director and moved back to Cartier International in Paris. He was appointed in 2009 as Chief of Staff to the company’s President, Bernard Fornas, who has since been succeeded by Stanislas de Quercize. Last year, Blanche succeeded Christopher Kilaniotis (now Louis Vuitton’s South Asia President) as Cartier’s regional boss. He lives in Singapore with his wife and three children. Highlights of an exclusive interview:
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE CARTIER AS A COMPANY IN TODAY’S MARKETPLACE?
As a jewellery maison, that’s probably the best way to go about it. But we also have a very strong activity in watchmaking that’s always been predominantly based on craftsmanship and design. So the same care, the same creativity that go into our jewellery pieces went and still go into our watches. We make the shapeliest watches. In terms of design and crafting shapes, the same principles that go into making jewellery, also go into watchmaking.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF CARTIER’S COLLECTIONS THIS YEAR?
Geneva is always the big moment in the world of watches, with SIHH (the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) taking place there each year. We have our new haute horlogerie pieces. The Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire has created a big buzz among watch aficionados because, for the first time, there is a watch with a perpetual calendar movement that is very easy to read but with a specific design. We also have the Earth and Moon, which is the new interpretation of a moon phase complication. At the same time, you have Cartier’s interpretation of how sports watches should and could be. We have the Calibre de Cartier Diver watch, for example. I was asked why Cartier started to do sport watches. I say Cartier never stopped doing sport watches. At the beginning of the 20th century, we had Santos watches because, at that time, aviators were sportsmen. We also have high jewellery watches, such as the Métiers d’Art Collection with floral marquetry. I could go on the whole morning! The creativity is such that, each year, it’s hard to pick which of the pieces we’re going to be highlighting. At the end of the day, we showcase them all. So it’s a very exciting year yet again.
CARTIER HAS BEEN DUBBED “THE JEWELLER OF KINGS AND THE KING OF JEWELLERS”. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A PART OF SUCH AN ICONIC MAISON?
The maison has been here for 165 years, way before I arrived - and it will be here way after I’m gone. My colleagues and I, we are a part of history. We need to be extremely consistent in what we do, and relevant. For example, when we open a new boutique, like here in Plaza Senayan, the thinking process that goes into it is a very deep one. We need to be very sure of what we do. What drives us is the desire to always enhance the service and experience for the clients. So yes, very empowering but daunting at the same time to be here.
AMONG YOUR CLIENTS, WHO WOULD YOU SAY ARE TODAY’S ROYALTY?
I think all of our clients, in some capacity, are royalty to us. I think one of the aims we have for our clients is that, because of the great experience they have, when they walk out of the boutique they feel eight inches taller than they did when they walked in.