Cartier

Earlier in my epic 13-part post on the Cartier manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds I took a look at the enamelling department of the manufacture (click here to see the post). This post will provide a more detailed look - with 42 never seen before photos - at the enamel atelier.

Atelier emaillage - "enamel workshop"

The enamel workshop was set up three years ago. Not many watch companies have in-house enamel artists, it is expensive and there are absolutely no economies of scale from vertical integration. But bringing it in-house does offer a greater variety of choice and flexibility in the resulting product, and also removes a dependence on external contractors who can sometimes be extremely expensive.

The enamel workshop is staffed by three ladies, each a skilled artisan, who painstakingly create enamel masterpieces by hand. They work in almost perfect silence, save for the occasion whirr of a mechanical drill; each enamel artist is fully equipped with her own set of tools and a small oven. Most of the tools are low-tech and reflect the skilled craftsmanship that go into enamelling. They are proficient in techniques like cloisonné, where gold wires are used to form a motif, and champlevé which uses enamel to fill up engraved areas on the metal.

Below: Samples of various enamel work

The preceding two photos show the gold wires of cloisonne before they are filled with enamel

The process of creating an enamelled item is straightforward but requires tremendous skill. Enamel is created by heating glass power which has been painted on a substrate, the powder then melts and fuses with the substrate. The substrate typically gold or brass and the colour in the powder comes from metals mixed with the powder.

Below: what the above looks like before enamel is painted on

Completed pieces and works in progress are stored in this antique safe

Before the enamel powder can be painted on, however, it is ground by hand with a mortar and pestle with a bit of water added. The artist then paints it into the substrate with a brush, under a microscope since the work is so intricate and minute.

After a portion is finished it is put in the oven. Enamel pieces are painted one section at a time, layer over layer with multiple firings, making the process lengthy and tedious.

But even then the work is not done. Sometimes the fired enamel piece needs touching up and mechanical tools, not unlike a dentist's drill, are used to make minor adjustments.

And it is not just painting and firing. For cloisonne enamel for instance, tiny gold wires have to be formed and soldered by hand onto the metal base to create the design. The champleve technique on the other hand calls for engraving of the substrate with the desired motif.

But the result is worth the extraordinary effort - brilliant and deep colours that will never fade. Enamel is hard and durable, but fragile and can crack on sharp impact or if the substrate is deformed.

People often ask, rightly, why watches decorated with enamels are so costly, despite the lack of complications or gemstones. The reason is simple and tangible: enamel incredibly time consuming to produce and must be done by hand. There are no shortcuts; only a few enamel watches are made each year.

You can have any conceivable colour 

It is no coincidence that the enamel workshop is located beside the high-jewellery workshop and the fine finishing atelier for watch components. All three practice the highest level of a refined craft.  The tools of the enameller are much like that of an artist, brushes and paints, and the resulting work is comparable – it is art.

-  SJX

Addendum: A sampling of some of the currently available Cartier enamel pieces. All three are part of the Cartier d'Art series and are boutique exclusives. 

Ballon Bleu with elephant motif dial executed in champleve enamel