London calling: Clash de Cartier rocks up at Selfridges
Beth Ditto and Marisa Berenson artfully pulled off a poetic duet, Christine and the Queens injected a shot of art pop, and Bronx Brasserie dished up the hip hop with some artful cuisine… The Paris party to celebrate the launch of Clash de Cartier earlier this year proved to be one of the legendary jewellery house’s most art-filled extravaganzas. This week, as a mini Clash de Cartier party pops up at London’s Selfridges, complete with video art, poetry clubs and soundscape by Michel Gaubert, we home in on the new designs.
Cartier fully embraces Selfridges’ expertise in experiential retail by tailoring its grand party concept to a sizeable area of the department store. The Clash de Cartier B&W photobooth is designed to entice passers by into Selfridges’ via its Oxford Street and Duke Street windows, a mini French brasserie is serving up jewels to try, and a rotation of live performers will heighten the party spirit in its Chateau-meets-nightclub space every Thursday evening.
The design
With its soft gold tones, round-tipped studs and wearability, the Clash de Cartier is a super-glamorous take on the ad-hoc studded leather cuffs and spikes of 1970s London punks (the clue’s in the cheeky name). Here, the rough-and-ready menace of these improvised jewels is honed and polished by the Paris fine jeweller into a playful mix of rings, bracelets and chains. True to Cartier’s nature, there’s a classic feel to these, albeit contemporary, pieces, which sidesteps a wrong turn into clunky pastiche. Pictured, Clash de Cartier collection in yellow gold and diamonds
The lowdown
Clash de Cartier is a modern riff on the jeweller’s deeply original 1970s hardware-infused gold designs, including the nail ring and Love bracelet, designed by Aldo Cipullo, for which public desire has never dimmed. The Love bracelet, complete with mini screwdriver to fasten the bolt clasp, continues to delight, while Juste en Clou – the nail – has a unique flair that, no matter how much they try, others just cannot replicate. With its geometric forms and playfully rotating ring design, Clash de Cartier promises a sound evolution into a house classic. Pictured, Clash de Cartier bracelet in yellow gold and coral
The hero piece
Adding an abstract element to already highly wearable designs is an inherent Cartier design tick. And so it is with Clash de Cartier, where rings and bangles take something of a ‘wrong’ turn when lush beads of coral are thrown into the mix. The perfect juicy rounds in this ring pump up the volume to sensuous effect, revealing a headier kind of character altogether. Pictured, Clash de Cartier ring in yellow gold and coral
Discover the Clash de Cartier universe at The Corner Shop Selfridges Oxford Street, 5 August – 1 September 2019