Editor’s note: Why is this unassuming looking farmhouse in the Swiss countryside so important to a brand as large as Cartier? Because it houses the workshop for Cartier’s Maison des Métiers d’Art, sanctuary to a set of artistic skills and techniques that are hundreds of years old. It is in this farmhouse that some of the most skilled craftspeople in the world are tasked with painstakingly producing the high-jewellery part of Cartier’s collection. Cartier’s Maison des Métiers d’Art It is impossible to overstate the importance of tradition to the Swiss watch industry. It’s a business, after all, built on skills and techniques that by all rights have no place in the 21st century. Watchmakers in general are a rare and special breed. Fewer still are experts in the more specialised artistic crafts such as marquetry and enamelling, which places their talents in high demand. Collectively, these artisanal disciplines are referred to as Métiers d’Art, and Cartier is leading the way in preserving and fostering these nearly forgotten skills through the Maison des Métiers d’Art. Based in an 18th century Bernese-style farmhouse, a short walk from their main fine watchmaking facility, the Maison des Métiers d’Art is the perfect expression of…
The post Keeping tradition alive at the Cartier Métiers d’Art appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
Continue reading ‘Keeping tradition alive at the Cartier Métiers d'Art’