Flower marquetry, a craft that has now become part of Cartier’s repertoire of skills, takes the principles of traditional marquetry and applies them to Cartier timepieces.
In 2014, for the first time, Cartier introduced a watch with a shimmering parrot design done in flower marquetry, a rare and delicate craft that employs rose petals—a living, non-uniform foliate material sensitive to both light and damp.
Flower marquetry, now part of Cartier’s Maison des Métiers d’Art (House of Craftsmanship), involves a series of meticulous operations: selection of roses, harvest of petals, dyeing, cutting, and then the inlay or veneering of those petals on a thin layer of wood, using a fretsaw. Once assembled, the petals form a pattern devised by the designer. In order to retain their freshness and keep them from altering, a special treatment is applied to the petals.
