Who doesn’t recognize Cartier’s Tank watch? Now meet Drive
Cartier has created some of the most iconic watches in history, from the square Santos to the rectangular Tank. When you see those distinctive shapes on a wearer ’ s wrist, along with the roman numerals on the dial and cabochon jewel on the crown, you can instantly tell: “Ah, that’s a Cartier.”
But, 169 years after the French watch and jewelry maison was first founded, Cartier is still designing new shapes. The latest one destined to become a classic is the Drive de Cartier, a cushion-shaped watch that Cartier area manager for developing markets Jean-Baptiste Tardy launched in Manila last week.
“Cartier is all about aesthetics and reinventing shapes,” he said. “In the Drive de Cartier you will see new aesthetics totally reinvented: the cushion shape is not part of Cartier’s aesthetics so far but respecting the Cartier DNA, the Cartier heritage. The roman numerals, the cabochon — everything is there.”
A man’s watch with an open, rounded face and sensual curves that gently hug
Cartier has created some of the most iconic watches in history, from the square Santos to the rectangular Tank. The latest one destined to become a classic is Drive de Cartier, sporting a new cushion shape.
the wrist, the Drive is not a watch meant for drivers (just as the Santos was made for a pilot): “The name comes from the inner drive of the man,” Tardy explains. “This watch will appeal to the classic, elegant man. It’s a cushion shape so it’s very comfortable, very nice to wear; even women will enjoy wearing it.”
That’s another interesting thing about Cartier: the oversized men’s watches appeal not just to gents but also to fashionistas and trendsetting women. Rustan’s Commercial Corporation board member Maritess Tantoco- Enriquez is usually seen sporting one on her slim wrist. At the event she was wearing a Calibre de Cartier Diver, a diving watch that hides a high-performance heart beneath a smartcasual exterior.
Drive de Cartier is also sporty but more overtly elegant. Tardy says it’s the perfect watch to wear with a suit, and he should know, as he wears one every single day.
There are three different versions, all featuring Cartier’s in-house 1904 MC movement: the most affordable is the steel-case model with leather strap that tells time down to the second and date; more mid-range is the Drive with large date, retrograde second time zone and day/night indicator in steel or 18K pink gold; while the most luxurious is the flying tourbillon in pink gold with leather strap.
Considering that Cartier has always been the watch of choice of fashion icons, from Jackie Kennedy to Princess Diana and now Kate Middleton, who’s usually seen sporting Cartier’s Ballon Bleu (her wedding ring is also by Cartier), it would be easy to think that Cartier specializes in fashion watches, but Tardy says nothing could be further from the truth. “Cartier stands for the opposite of fashion,” he says. “Fashion is something that will change every six months. Something fashionable one day will not be fashionable the next. But a Cartier you buy today — in 10 years’ time you’ll still wear it because it’s classic, elegant and beautiful. That illustrates how Cartier is not at all about fashion: it’s about timelessness, durability, luxury.”
Drive de Cartier, which took around two years to develop and is composed of 186 parts, is elegant enough to suit a male icon of yore like Cary Grant, while modern enough to appeal to a current celeb like Cartier wearer Zac Efron.
It’s sure to make an impact on the Philippine market, which Tardy finds surprisingly sophisticated. “I don’t know if it’s your proximity to Hong Kong or historical link to the US, but you’re very well exposed,” he says. “Take the example of the boutique (which just opened in Greenbelt 4): we were not expecting to have so many connoisseurs — supporters of those lines that require you to be aware of those designs. That tells me the Filipinos are very sophisticated; they know jewelry design.”
Tantoco-Enriquez had a lot to do with Cartier’s place at the top of the minds of brand-conscious Filipinos. She helped bring in Cartier in the 1970s, when Philippe Charriol was still with the brand. “He was the first one who brought Cartier to the Philippines,” she notes. “He was the one heading it in Hong Kong and we were the very first to introduce laser lights in the launching.”
Maritess, or “Tokie,” as she is fondly known, also remembers attending a big Cartier event in Geneva when John F. Kennedy Jr. was still alive. (Both his parents were Cartier wearers, BTW.) “Anyway, at the launching of the Tank Francaise, I stood up from the table and went to the ladies’ room. And there was this really good-looking guy waiting outside. I looked and said, ‘God, he looks familiar.’ I went out and he was still standing there. He looked like John-John Kennedy. ‘Oh, my God, it’s him.’ He was there because of his wife — Cartier gave her a watch that night.”
Tardy is very happy about Cartier opening its first boutique in the Philippines, one of close to 300 Cartier stores around the world. “If you look back 10, 15 years ago, we’ve expanded quite dramatically,” he notes, “so now the time has come for more consolidation.”
The store carries both the timepieces and Cartier’s jewelry collections, with the exception of the highest, most expensive pieces. “We have extremely limited quantities of those pieces, so we put them together and showcase them in countries like Singapore and Japan,” notes Tardy.
The only problem for men like him is keeping the watches on their own wrists. “Despite the fact that some models are really specifically designed for men, we know that a lot of women will actually wear them. My wife steals mine — of course she does,” he laughs. “Not only steals them from me, I can’t wear them anymore because they become hers.”
Husbands planning to buy a Drive de Cartier, take note.