Cartier Men's Watch Exhibition at Harrods

Arguably, Cartier was the first modern watch designer. Here was a brand that was started with the first modern design based on industrial machinery: the aeroplane and the tank. Both were machines of the modern age: increased speed; transportable destruction. Yet, using the inspiration from both, Louis Cartier fashioned two of the most memorable men’s watch designs in horology. Think about it for a moment: the Cartier Tank - so named as it is based on the First World War tank as inspiration - has endured throughout the past century. With a hundred years since the outbreak of the First World War, the Cartier Tank has not only endured, the design has become (in the very definition of the term): time less. It is as modern today as it was, and has always been. It is the very essence of great design as a man’s (or woman’s for that matter) watch.



For the next month, in one location (Harrods - just next to door 9), has a display of everything that is lifestyle ‘homme’. From the watches, and there is a fabulous and possibly unique collection under one roof for the first time; or certainly since SIHH; to the cufflinks, bags (including a unique bag for this display at Harrods), and pens. It is all quintessentially Cartier; it is all an integrated design.



The ‘pop-up’ shop inside Harrods store has an enviable collection of men’s watch from the past and from the present Cartier range. Laurent Feniou, the Cartier UK CEO, is rightly proud of the ‘pop-up’ store and what it brings to Cartier in London. It is a unique gathering: from the restored watches from the 1920’s and 1930’s: that still look as avant-garde today as they did then; to the newest of watches from this year’s SIHH that still take their design cues from the genius of yesteryear. It is a stunning collection and worth seeing. All too often, the breadth and length of Cartier’s design in men’s watches has been scattered among various stores. Here, for once, is an alignment of the stars and all the watches are assembled in one place.



For the next month.

Enjoy!

Andrew H


[Cartier UK CEO Laurent Feniou gives a welcome speech]


[On the CEO's wrist: the pick of this year's SIHH releases, the Louis Cartier Tank skeleton sapphire]


[Showing how modern the design was then, as it is now, a 1923 Cartier Tank with a platinum case. Very avant-garde, very rare, and part of Cartier's vintage collection that is for sale.]


[Similarly, a Cartier Tank Cintrex Curvee: the watch I would have gone home with! Once again, the 80 or so years have not dulled the modernity of the design, or the elegance of the watch]


[Modern Santos watches]


[The modern Cartier diver watch: a great design and one that is sure to endure]


[The stars of the haute horologerie Cartier line are also all there. Sorry for the poor photo quality]


[Part of the lifestyle range: a unique ostrich bag for the Harrods exhibition]