The last couple of years had been tough on most industries, watchmaking included, but one brand managed to stir up even more excitement than during pre-Covid times, and that brand is none other than Cartier.
Presenting a staggering novelties line up consistently from 2019 through 2020, 2021, and now 2022, the French maison enjoyed blockbuster year after blockbuster year. Countless celebrities proudly wear timepieces and jewellery such as the Tank, Santos, Panthere, and more at the biggest red carpet events.
With thoughtfully crafted and tastefully updated timepieces that truly resonate with the luxury consumer of today, Cartier underscores its position as a leading maison in the haute horlogerie space – a fact confirmed by its overtaking of other top Swiss brands as the second biggest watchmaking company in the world.
Which is what makes this collaboration between Cartier and Singapore’s very own SWC is all the more vaunted, since it isn’t every day that the legacy maison creates something special this close to home for Singaporeans.
Especially For You
SWC, or Singapore Watch Club, celebrates its sixth anniversary in 2022. And while this collaboration with Cartier isn’t the club’s first, it is definitely its biggest one till date.
Breaking away from the standard production of one single model, the SWC and Cartier has launched 18 unique special edition timepieces that highlight Cartier’s distinguished watchmaking style.
Shapes, a Cartier specialty, obviously played a starring role, so the collection comprises six distinctive form watches. Cloche, Tonneau, Santos Dumont, Tank Asymétrique, and Tank Cintrée. One for every year that the SWC has joined the local horological community.
Founder of SWC, Tom Chng, shares: “What started as an out-of-reach idea two years ago has become a reality today. The feeling can only be described as surreal and humbling, to be able to work with a brand that I so deeply admire and adore.”
Indeed, this collaboration with Cartier broke new ground for the SWC on many levels. He continues, "In our vision of SWC timepieces, a big criteria for us is identifying brands with very distinct strengths, or historical expertise. This time round, we really wanted to experiment with a different approach to making a special edition.
"Rather than the usual way of producing a certain quantity of one design, we wanted to create a few different designs but of only one watch each. Cartier's historical strength has always been its wide selection of timeless shapes. All in simple time-only executions, and they were the perfect canvasses for such a conceptual play."
The SWC's previous brand collaboration was with Hublot in 2019. The Classic Fusion played with bold design and striking characteristics such as Chinese calligraphy dial and a woven linen dial. Only 30 pieces were made, all of which were swiftly spoken for upon launch. So this year, Chng decided to raise the stakes. "It was a crazy idea, and Cartier fulfilled our dream flawlessly."
Collectors Only
As expected of a watch expert like Chng, the timepieces are not your stock condition Cartier models given just an SWC logo engraved on the dial or case back. Each of these manual-winding watches have been tastefully enriched with a vintage-inspired brushed silver dial. The famous Cartier Roman numerals remain but this time the sixth marker is turned right side up as a nod to the anniversary.
A popular feature not found in many modern Cartier pieces today are the pomme hour and minute hands made in blued steel, as well as the blue minute track normally reserved for platinum models only.
Each watch is a unique piece in its colour tone, and there are three precious metal options available per model: platinum, yellow gold, and rose gold. The materials correspond to one of the SWC’s three club values: passion, sincerity, and humility.
Chng muses about the growing appeal of Cartier timepieces to many collectors in Singapore. "The market has in the past two years opened its eyes to the strengths and allure of Cartier. [It's] market positioning is quite unique in the watch industry. It's not just a watchmaker, not just a jeweller, but a purveyor and authority of all things beautiful."
To further distinguish the variants, Cartier pairs a special cabochon stone with each case material. Ruby with platinum, blue sapphire for yellow gold, and black spinel for rose gold.
Unfortunately, the pieces have all been spoken for (as special editions tend to be) but click here to join the SWC and meet other watch geeks—or to get ahead of next year’s collab *you didn’t hear it from us.
