Purple Magazine
— The Magic Issue #42 F/W 2024

cartier libre

THE DAUGHTERS OF FIRE

Cartier Libre

 

Photography by MÉLISSA DE ARAUJO

Dimitri Riviere, style

Liv Walters, model

Leïla Ananna and Barbara Nicoli at M+A World Group, casting directors

Michaël Delmas at Total Management, hair

Marie Bruce, make-up

Alex Feller at Artlist, nail artist

Samuel Fasse at Cadence Image, set designer

Enea Arienti, photographer’s assistant

Sara Chammas, stylist’s assistant

 

INTERVIEW WITH MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE, CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF JEWELRY AND WATCHES AT CARTIER

by OLIVIER ZAHM

 

OLIVIER ZAHM — What was your starting point for the “Cartier Libre” collection?

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — I began with an observation of the world and a pure creative approach that maintains a certain accessibility. “Cartier Libre” is designed with total freedom. It’s a collection that allows us, the design studio, to surprise and innovate. It questions form and design, and challenges expertise and savoir-faire. However, as the collections exist in limited editions, we needed to take into account the ability to reproduce a piece even in small quantities, and the accessibility in terms of price. From that standpoint, we had to break out of our habits and boxes. At Cartier, we usually work through creative territories: there are creations inspired by Art Deco, the bestiary with the panther and other iconic animals, etc. I thought this was too narrow, compared with what’s happening today.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Isn’t the history of jewelry about reproducibility? Jewelry has always been copied and recopied: these are forms that have been developed, revisited, transmitted, and then specified, like a plant or animal species, or like the Greek and Roman sculptures from Antiquity.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — Yes, that’s right. For me, it’s also a form of universality. It allows for a fairly universal appropriation, but that doesn’t exclude creation, provided it’s not just about novelty for novelty’s sake.

OLIVIER ZAHM — It’s as if jewelry has evolved along with the human genetic code. What’s fascinating about the world of jewelry is that Neolithic jewelry, made 5,000 years before Christ, is still as desirable as contemporary jewelry.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — Yes. There is a sort of magical annulment of time.

OLIVIER ZAHM — That’s because some pieces of jewelry have a spiritual dimension that allows them to remain powerful.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — Yes. Those that don’t have a bit of this sacred dimension are quickly forgotten in drawers!

OLIVIER ZAHM — It’s fascinating how jewelry is able to traverse time and evoke a sense of wonder in all genders.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — Hence my desire for Cartier to inspire and bring back happiness in jewelry and free it from conventions.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Was the idea to start from something completely new?

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — We started from the world of Cartier, but with a completely new vision and a different approach. I called it working in counterpoint.

OLIVIER ZAHM — You told me, off the record, that you’re inspired by today’s world, but this world is in a state of chaos and shock. We don’t know where to turn. That’s why this issue of Purple explores the idea of magic as a possible resource.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — For this collection, I started with the idea of organizing chaos. At Cartier, we have geometric structures and volumes that are very pure and geometrical, and have a fairly static construction. My desire was to introduce life and vital chaos, to make them lively and explosive thanks to the intervention of stones, notably. I also thought that structure should become texture. For this collection, we played with a new perspective of lines, volumes, contrast, and mobility.

OLIVIER ZAHM — How does structure become texture?

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — That means it’s a work from the inside out, becoming alive in the composition of the jewelry. These are geometric compositions, pure lines that come to life and are animated from within. In the end, you no longer see a structure or volume, but something animated that stays on very geometric bases.

OLIVIER ZAHM — You also created flexible rings and bracelets. They remind me of mollusks or sea sponges.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — I like to talk about living architecture for jewelry, especially in today’s world. A geometry that doesn’t appeal to other senses and go beyond the visual is somewhat dead.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Jewelry also takes shape or comes to life on the body.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — Exactly. An exceptional piece of jewelry is like a second skin. It must be alive on your body and adapt to your body. It is both majestic and imposing, yet very comfortable. It’s not worn like an exhibition piece. These pieces become part of you, so you wear them for the pleasure of the senses. The work of volume and ergonomics is super important. Jewelry must appeal to multiple senses, not just sight.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Is it because this dimension of comfort and harmony with the body wasn’t really taken into account in traditional jewelry, which was more centered on the idea of display or appearance?

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — A piece of jewelry shouldn’t be museum-like. Today, that dimension is essential. Jewelry must allow a relationship of intimacy with the wearer. It can also take different forms or views on your body.

OLIVIER ZAHM — I was wondering if this order against chaos you mentioned connects to a need for protection — more or less magical — that could be attributed to jewelry as a talisman.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — Yes, by its aesthetic value, the value of beauty.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Do you mean aesthetics in the sense of a form of life that helps you live, like an additional form of life with protective powers?

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — Certainly! That’s why I think we must include a dimension of spirituality in beauty, which necessarily involves protection and communion between the jewelry and the wearer.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Jewelry has always had spiritual value. It was not always meant to be passed on but instead was often placed as offerings on tombs to accompany the dead into another life.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — That’s quite true. It’s an essential aspect of jewelry and the world of stones. But it’s also true of a simple ring, which is one of the hardest things to make in jewelry. Look at the success of Trinity, Cartier’s three intertwined rings: it’s the creation of a true symbol, a spiritual gesture. This sense must be immediate.

OLIVIER ZAHM — If that is part of jewelry’s history, it‘s because it’s part of human history. Jewelry is not just a product to be consumed in the moment.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — Never! Even if, at the base, we work on creations that are by essence not necessities.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Paradoxically, these pieces are not disposable. They connect us to time and human history — history forged against darkness, I would say.

MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE — Yes, a bit of light in the darkness.

END

[Table of contents]

The Magic Issue #42 F/W 2024

Table of contents

© Purple Institute

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