Form Factor

Cartier demonstrates its mastery of shapes once again as the 2023 novelty lineup reveals a geometric spectacle.

- Asaph Low

It was a dazzling display of glitz and glamour in Geneva as Cartier served up a feast for the eyes at Watches and Wonders Geneva. The French jeweller served up a treat that saw up to 87 creations unveiled. At the heart of the narration was interpreting time as cyclical instead of linear. Creativity becomes nonexhaustive through an endless cycle of transformation and reinvention as one collection guides the next since founder Louis Cartier's first creations. This year's novelties explored the many universes of Cartier as rich storytelling was met with the Maison's watchmaking savoir-faire and eminence in jewellery making. Archival pieces were given a revitalising touch as old-world charm marries with contemporary elegance. A cursory glance through the year's novelty reveals another of Cartier's secrets to its continued excellence its mastery of shapes and forms.

Louis Cartier's vision and eye for the unconventional in 1904 set precedence for today; the Santos de Cartier watch was a square watch with rounded curves. Other shapes, such as the cloche, pebble, and tortue, to name a few, soon came about, some more peculiar than others. They held special places through Cartier's era and were physical manifestations of the Maison's design evolution through the decades.

Cartier Privé, now in its seventh year, celebrates another mythical creation in the Maison's archives with the Cartier Privé Tank Normale. The revered Tank is one of Cartier's enduring symbols, characterised by the purity of lines of a pair of vertical brancards. Inspired by the edition made by Louis Cartier in 1917 and sold two years later, the Cartier Privé Tank Normale evokes the past with pepperings of Cartier's contemporary aesthetics.