Until June 30th, Seoul’s neo-futuristic Zaha Hadid- designed Dongdaemun Design Plaza is hosting an incredible collection of Cartier objects in an exhibition called Cartier, Crystallization of Time. Based on an exhibition first hosted in 2019 in Tokyo, this immersive creation has been curated by Hiroshi Sugimoto and Tomoyuki Sakakida’s architectural firm, New Material Research Laboratory, with collaboration and support from the Korean traditional culture research institute Onjium, and Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation. In terms of the Cartier objects, there’s a focus on more contemporary pieces from the 1970s and onwards, but the wider concept is so much broader. Hiroshi Sugimoto and Tomoyuki Sakakida have gone to great lengths to place Cartier’s precious objects in a wider, more philosophical context. The formal structure of the exhibition shows the maison’s work through the context of “Material Transformation and Color,” “Forms and Designs” and “Universal Curiosity,” but really they place Cartier’s objects in time. Necklaces are presented on custom displays, carved from millennia-old pieces of wood. In another room, display cases are surrounded by stacks of hewn stone, formed millions of years ago in underwater volcanoes. Precious Cartier treasures are shown side by side with other cultural treasures, old and new, to encourage the viewer to see that these necklaces and timepieces are more than the sum of their weight in diamonds.

It’s an incredible exhibition that goes far beyond a simple catalog of precious objects. Revolution met with Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s image, style and heritage director, to discuss not only this exhibition, but also Cartier’s proactive cultural stance and relationship to art.

Communicating culture

Naturally enough, the best place to begin exploring Cartier’s relationship with its heritage and cultural impact is the beginning. For Rainero, this story is deeply entwined with the history of modern Cartier itself: “We have to go back to the vision of the ’80s. In fact, even further, to when Cartier was finally reunified. The family sold each branch off separately, and these branches were bought one after another and reunified at the very end of the 1970s.

“The new managers understood Cartier’s heritage and legacy, and they decided to create a central archive department. This was not only for internal purposes, but also because of the idea that Cartier had a responsibility in society because it was so important in terms of the history of craftsmanship and creation. Cartier had such an important, leading role in our fields of experience. We should do everything possible to gather and preserve information. So the first decision was the archive department created in 1973, and in 1983, it was decided that we should create a collection.”

While the collection started small and organically — as is so often the case with Cartier — they were ahead of the curve. Rainero says, “The philosophy for this was that there is nothing better than the object itself to testify about our legacy. That is how the collection started, with quite a small number of pieces. We had about 70 pieces at that time, as the owners had started to acquire pieces like the Portico mystery clock in 1973, so there was already a collection, even if it wasn’t structured, but we knew that the objects were very important. Then, the decision was made not to create a Cartier Museum, but we created something to share. We proposed a collection available on a permanent basis to cultural institutions, whatever their objectives were. At that time, in the 1970s and ’80s, jewelry was quite an unknown field. After the Second World War, jewelry and luxury were seen as more superficial, given the conditions at that time, especially in Europe. It was quite a tough period. Just as in the field of art, the center of cultural gravity moved from Europe to the United States at this time; in art, New York became the capital of the art world, and it was the same for jewelry. The dominant clientele was American, and the culture in jewelry was focused on the accumulation of stones rather than design. This is part of the context that led to Cartier to decide to communicate around the artistic dimension of jewelry.

“Another important factor was that at this time, several large estates of Cartier jewelry, from the collections of the Duchess of Windsor, of Mona Bismarck and Barbara Hutton — all the big prewar collectors’ estates suddenly entered the market, and it was a shock to the public. There were no jewelry divisions in auction houses at that time, so in a very real way, that’s when everything started. Cartier was well placed at this time to acquire some of these pieces. The public at the time rediscovered how jewelry could be an artistic expression. This was the time when Cartier’s collection started to be requested by museums. The first big exhibition of Cartier’s history took place in 1989 in Paris, and that was just the beginning of a long series of exhibitions.”

For the love of beautiful objects

The Crystallization of Time is now the latest chapter in that 40-year history of exhibitions, and for Rainero, it’s a telling exploration of the maison’s approach to design. He says, “This exhibition says something very interesting about the vision of Louis Cartier. For a period of time, being modern meant to turn your back to the past. You couldn’t be modern without being totally different. That was not the vision of Louis Cartier, or of Cartier. Louis Cartier never established a hierarchy of past, present and future. There’s no idea of progress in terms of creation. There are beautiful things, but there’s no idea of progression as there is in maybe math or technology. In our creations, you always feel something that was already existing, as well as an exploration of new territories. So in terms of notions of time, it says a lot. Time is continuous, and we share with people who lived before and people who will live in the future. It is something that moves everybody. The field we work in, we are about creating things that move you, and this is, I think, eternal.”

Rainero goes on to explain how Hiroshi Sugimoto’s guiding vision has provided valuable insight into Cartier’s familiar objects by placing them against a broader setting. “Initially, this exhibition was intended to study the evolution of forms, how they evolve, what remains the same, and what this reveals. Sugimoto integrated these ideas and transformed them in depth and with a broader scope. For me, when I look at the evolution or changes of pieces over time, say from the ’30s or ’50s, along with more contemporary pieces. You can see the thread — maybe colorful stones — there are nuances that you can read. But when Sugimoto looks from a bird’s eye view, it really highlights the scope. We include contemporary pieces in this exhibition, but when we say contemporary, we mean from the ’80s and ’90s. We’re as far away from that period now, as the ’80s were from the 1950s. Thanks to Sugimoto, we see that everything is relative. The history of what Cartier does compared to others looks very long, but in the broader scope of things, it’s the blink of an eye. I like that Sugimoto has brought this philosophical element to the exhibition.”

It’s rare to be able to take a physical object (even ones as exceptional as Cartier’s creations) out of their daily context, but this is precisely what Cartier, Crystallization of Time does. For anyone visiting the exhibition, Rainero hopes they leave with something pretty simple: “I want people to experience pure pleasure. We come back to the sense of beauty. I think people will experience what they intend to do with the idea of working with a wide variety of beautiful objects — an understanding of how Cartier can appear complex because it’s so rich in different directions. This exhibition is aimed at showing the common principles, enjoyment of a moment, pleasure and a better understanding of why Cartier has so many inspirations and creative expressions.”

Safe to say that the exhibition, which runs from May 1st to June 30th, 2024, delivers on this goal.