Complications
SJX delves into the unexpected artistry of straw marquetry as applied to the Rotonde de Cartier with a koala motif dial. His post illuminates how Cartier elevates a humble material like straw into a high-end watchmaking technique, emphasizing the immense value placed on craftsmanship over intrinsic material cost. This article offers a fascinating look into a rare and intricate decorative art form in horology.
This year sees the most unlikely of materials used in high-end watchmaking – straw. That forms the dial of the Rotonde de Cartier with koala motif dial in a technique known as straw marquetry. Originally from Asia, the technique is actually very similar to wood marquetry in execution. A few artisans around the world still practice this art, though mostly on a larger scale as an inlay for high-end furniture.
Rotonde de Cartier with koala motif
Straw – dried stalks of plants like rice and wheat – is not an intrinsically valuable material. The other Cartier d’Art watches use costly materials like semi-precious stones in a mosaic, wood veneer in marquetry, or enamel. But straw is nothing like that; instead the value is in the workmanship.
It takes 40 hours to complete one dial with all the work being done by hand. First the straw is split blade by blade, then flattened with a burnished bone. The flattened pieces of straw are then stacked and cut with a fret saw into the appropriate shape, taking care to cut the straw so that the grain is aligned correctly for the motif.
Straw in seven different tones of brown from gold to chocolate, in varying thicknesses, are used in order to create the koala on the dial. All the pieces are assembled by hand, on a base of 18k gold. There is some irony in hiding a piece of solid gold underneath bundles of straw.
Notably, the straw is left as is after the dial is completed. There is no lacquer or varnish. Straw is already slightly shiny in its natural state, so visually the effect is pleasing, a semi-shiny finish with pliable texture that also is richly coloured. That is perfectly suited to depicting the koala’s fur. However, due to the soft nature of straw the edges of each piece of straw are not as sharp, so up close the marquetry does not appear as precise as work using harder materials like stone or wood veneer. But that suits the softer look and feel of the straw marquetry well.
But the lack of protection for the straw is intuitively worrying, since straw seems a far more fragile material than wood veneer for instance. But straw marquetry objects from the 18th and 19th century have survived well into the 21st century looking very well, so that bodes well for the dial.
This is presented in a 35 mm white gold case, with the bezel set with 43 diamonds totalling 1.6 carats and one diamond in the crown. Only 20 pieces will be made.
Interestingly Cartier is not the only company to offer a straw marquetry dial this year. Hermes presented the Arceau with straw marquetry dial in a geometric pattern at Baselworld 2012. I would not be surprised at all if the same craftsman, or lady, created the dials for both companies. That being said, Cartier's range of Cartier d'Art watches which span the range of artistic crafts, including straw marquetry, mosaic work and enamelling, is far, far more comprehensive.
- SJX
This message has been edited by SJX on 2012-03-16 07:09:19 This message has been edited by SJX on 2012-03-16 07:10:16 This message has been edited by SJX on 2012-03-16 21:00:30Thanks for the report. Considering a certain puristspro moderator's avatar, should we assume this is a custom piece for him? Regards, Richard.
A custom men's version is certainly possible. Or perhaps this one for the missus? ;-) - SJX
I'd still be worried about small fibers coming off the straw and affecting the movement as well as the dial fading over time.
As I said there are objects from the 18th and 19th century still being sold today by antique vendors, so straw marquetry definitely lasts. I wouldn't worry about the fibres falling off, since those antiques are unprotected, e.g. panel on furniture. In contrast the watch dial is sealed inside a water resistant case. Fading might be a problem I suppose, especially if you live in a tropical climate. - SJX
I also appreciated the Marquetry techniques with the Premium Feathers from HW. This Koala dial is really impressive. Fx
Remind me of the watches in the 80s from Cartier and Corum. Of course those were made of single pieces of feather rather than the intricate marquetry as the HW is. But those watches have survived very well until today so feathers are as good as straw as a dial material evidently! - SJX This message has been edited by SJX on 2012-03-18 01:37:32
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