In a rare occurrence, the director of Cartier’s high jewellery workshops Alexa Abitbol takes Vogue Scandinavia inside the brand’s venerated Paris workshop. Here, she divulges on the delicate process of creating one of Cartier’s one-of-a-kind pieces
In a nondescript Parisian building, Cartier’s high jewellery workshop resides. On floor after floor, a quiet hum settles among intensely concentrated workers – polishers, setters, experts in glyptics (the art of engraving and carving stones and putrified materials) and more – adorned in crisp white lab coats. Diamonds, rubies, onyx and sapphires: silver and gold, materials too precious to imagine lay ready to be moulded into singular glistening ‘objects’.
High jewellery is, just like haute couture, the apex of a Maison’s aesthetic and knowledge. And just like in fashion, the true testament to exceptional work is usually what you don’t see. “We spend around 20 per cent of the time on the back of a piece,” explains Alexa Abitbol, the director of Cartier’s high jewellery workshops.
Alexa Abitbol in Cartier's high jewellery workshop.
Founded in Paris in 1847, Cartier still adheres to the motto of its original driving force, Louis-Francois Cartier: “Never imitate, always innovate.” Throughout history, some aspects of Cartier has become iconic, such as the signature red box (making an appearance in Marilyn Monroe’s 1926 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and the animal motifs.
Although she has spent the better part of a decade at Cartier (most of it in the workshop), Abitbol doesn’t come for a background in jewellery. Instead, she started as an industrial engineer working in the automotive industry. “I immediately fell in love with the products and the people and the materials – the workshop,” she says. At Cartier, Abitbol has a strategic overview of the workshop to preserve the long history of craftsmanship and traditional know-how and innovate the process. “It’s a very two-fold job, with different rhythms. So my days are always high-paced and exciting.”
We work with techniques and with the people who master them. These techniques can be hundreds of years old.
Alexa Abitbol
High jewellery at Cartier works in two ways: there are the collections created to a theme, and then there are commissions or special orders from clients. “It is still the same artisans working with the same methods no matter the origin of the piece,” Abitbol explains. However, she points out, the custom orders always take precedent. “We’re constantly working on the collections, but when a commission comes in, it takes priority.”
What makes high jewellery unique is that individuals are integral to the process. “We work with techniques and with the people who master them. These techniques can be hundreds of years old.” What’s changing is the style of the jewellery, Abitbol explains. “Sometimes the necklaces are more flexible. Sometimes they’re more rigid. The workshop is adapting itself to what our clients want while staying true to our traditions.”
From sketch to realised necklace. Photo: Courtesy of Cartier
The first step in creating a high jewellery piece is interpreting a designer’s sketch. Using modelling clay, it might take two to three months to get the design and volume right. Once the artisan decides on a final design, the clay model is reproduced in wax. “It is a process that is centuries old. It’s traditional and manual,” Abitbol explains. Wax replicas of large precious stones – which are far too valuable to risk being damaged – are also created and used in the design process until the very last moment, when the gems replace them.
Cartier spends a long time polishing its pieces. “It needs to be like a mirror,” Abitbol explains. “How we finish our pieces is incredibly important.” Finally, stones are put in place and decorative detailing finalised. “Especially on our animals, our crocodiles and panthers, that process is important. to make them come to life.”
Photo: Courtesy of Cartier
The most mind-blowing aspect of the process? Each piece is taken from start to finish by a single jeweller. “It takes around 3000 hours to make a single piece of jewellery, but to be exact is very hard. It all depends on the piece,” she says.”
As mentioned, a fifth of the time – around 600 hours - is spent on the fastenings and the back. It is crucial for convertible pieces, such as a necklace that can transform into a choker or turn into a brooch. These details are what has come to define Cartier’s craftsmanship. Looking through the history of the brand’s intricate jewellery – from the Panthère to the Tutti Frutti – flipping them inside-out or upside-down, the work is almost invisible. After all, in high jewellery, “It is about hiding the technique and highlighting the aesthetic,” as Abitbol says.