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Cartier Hits the Gold Standard with Elevated Car Display
Iconic French luxury jewellery house Cartier conjured up a truly eye-catching creation to mark this year’s Milan Design Week, which came to a close earlier this week.
The brand placed at the centrepiece of its pop-up exhibition in the heart of Milan a gilded Corvette car suspended a few feet above the ground.
Designed by the New York based artist Desi Santiago, the striking display was part of the theme “Precious Garage” nestled in the Garage Sanremo on Milan’s Via delle Fosse Ardeatine.
Awash with gold painted auto parts, the innovative space in Milan placed the spotlight on two new Cartier lines of precious jewellery: ‘Juste un Clou’ and ‘Écrou de Cartier’.
“Looking at the history of the Juste un Clou bracelet, which is about very strong design establishing a link between [the world of] mechanics and jewellery, and transforming ordinary everyday objects into exceptional pieces, the idea of presenting during design week felt natural,” says Arnaud Carrez, a senior director at Cartier.
“It will be an industrial mood but shaped by Cartier, a garage installation through the eyes of a nonconformist, free-spirited jeweller with a balance of edginess, elegance and sophistication,” he said of the pop-up.
Founded by Louis-François Cartier in Paris in 1847, Cartier has grown to become one of the world’s most illustrious luxury brands.
The company has a long history of sales to royalty and celebrities. King Edward VII of England referred to Cartier as "the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers”.