GUARDIAN OF STYLE

Image, style and heritage director Pierre Rainero talks about the new Coloratura collection and and what defines Cartier’s design language

Colour is important to Cartier. How and when did this Come about?

Cartier’s style was born out of colour; it’s also why we continue to impose new associations of colours. The very first colour combination we can talk about is blue and green, colours derived from Morrocan tiles and Islamic culture. When Cartier first paired those colours, it was a revolution because in Western culture, it was bad taste to mix blue and green. However, Louis Cartier decided to mix emeralds and sapphires together and it turned out to be a huge success.

tell us more about tutti Frutti. it’s one of Cartier’s most iconic and Colourful expressions.

Its mix of colours has roots in Indian culture but was transformed by Cartier. The basis of Indian jewellery is to mix carved rubies and emeralds; in many parts of India, it is impossible to use blue sapphires because it brings bad luck. Cartier decided to mix carved blue, red and green stones together in the 1920s; it became popular with Europeans who were only used to seeing jewellery with faceted stones. There were some European press who said Cartier was going barbaric in terms of taste and innovation!

since Coloratura is inspired by Countries that inspired Cartier’s style, WHICH, in your opinion, Carries the most influence?

There are different countries that are really important to Cartier’s style. China, for instance, gave Cartier the idea of combining red with black. Islamic art and Japanese culture were also two key influences behind Cartier’s move towards abstraction and geometric designs at the beginnning of the 20th century.

the discovery of new mines and new gemstones Has drastically Changed the way we define High jewellery. How Has that impacted Cartier?

I think the entire history of jewellery is linked to the discovery of new mines and new stones. It’s a new way of being in touch with exceptional gemstones and that’s a good thing: The discovery of new nuances of colours and new stones of beautiful quality is stimulating and helps a lot with jewellery design.

is there a piece in the Coloratura Collection you are most partial to?

I like the Chromaphonia emerald necklace because it combines the preciousness of rare emeralds with beautiful design and colour combination. It also communicates accurately our intentions for this new collection: Interesting shapes and combination of colours, together with very high-quality stones.

Coloratura is as much about new Colour expressions as it is about Honouring existing Colour Codes. How does Cartier balance the need to be Current with its responsibility to the past?

At Cartier, it’s all about innovation and movement. Nothing is fixed forever. Our founders looked at style as a living language that is open to evolution and adapted to the times. This means that the jewellery we create today has to be adapted to the way people today wear jewellery. That remains the objective at Cartier. For example, with regards to mixing the three colours of red, green and blue: Although we used gemstones from this same colour combination for the Holika set, it is done in an entirely different way. We used pastel or [brighter] colours to achieve a totally different look that is, at the same time, still very much in line with Cartier’s heritage.

what defines a Cartier piece?

I think Cartier’s style is defined by certain visions of what is beautiful, and a notion of beauty that is unique to Cartier. It’s a question of sense of proportion and volume: Everything is, in a way, 3D. It’s also about an object’s lines and curves, a combination of colours, and how you look at colours. It could also be something deemed traditional now but was not, say, a century or 50 years ago.

would you say it’s intuitive?

It’s linked to experience, not something you learnt from a book even though we have many books in our archives. Reading books is not enough; it needs to be ingrained in your mind. It’s like learning a language: You can start with help of a grammar book and a dictionary, but at the end of the day, how you successfully express yourself in that language is up to you and your talent.