Wonder in Every Moment

From a Santos-Dumont that tells the time backwards to the Reflections bracelet watch that mirrors a dial using a polished surface, Cartier's latest timepieces revolve around the theme of magic. Cartier image, style and heritage director PIERRE RAINERO shares more.

- LYNETTE KOH

"As a jeweller, we don't think about time in the same way as traditional watchmakers," says Pierre Rainero, the image, style and heritage director of French luxury house Cartier for the past two decades. He is speaking to Prestige Singapore via a video conference call from his home in Paris to discuss Cartier's horological novelties for this year. Behind him is an extensive library; I catch a glimpse of hardbound tomes on artists ranging from iconoclasts such as Salvador Dali to French abstract painters Jean Hélion and Jean Degottex.

Like Rainero's interest in boundarypushing art, an irreverent and creative bent drives Cartier's timepiece creation process. This year, the theme linking the brand's new timepiece offerings is "magic". Rainero, who looks dapper as always in a white shirt and dark-rimmed spectacles, explains what differentiates watch design at Cartier: "We transform those objects that tell time to give them a kind of magic. It's like how we have created different shapes of watches from the beginning; transforming something that had almost always been round into new forms." Here, he takes us through Cartier's new timepieces, elucidating the creative process behind them, and connecting the dots between this modern-day "magic" and the brand's moments in history.

One of the Cartier's most whimsical new watches is the Santos-Dumont Rewind watch, where the time runs backwards. What was the idea behind this timepiece?

Aside from creating new forms, we wanted to go further by transforming the way a watch measures time. A few years ago, we actually had a request to create a special-order watch that told the time backwards, although that watch was not a Santos. I cannot say too much about the specifics because special orders are confidential, but what I can share is that this customer was an artist and a philosopher who understood how time instruments could have a magical aspect.