post

A definitive guide to men&#039;s premium fashion and lifestyle, as well as Hollywood celebrities.

DA MAN Magazine - Make Your Own Style!

After a commanding showcase at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025, Cartier’s Image, Style and Heritage Director Pierre Rainero reflects on the delicate balance between reimagining icons and sustaining the maison’s commitment to clean, balanced and expressive design
<figure id="attachment_113927" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113927" style="width: 974px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-113927" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/PIERRE_RAINERO__-Jean-Fran_ois-ROBERT.jpg" alt="" width="974" height="1280" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/PIERRE_RAINERO__-Jean-Fran_ois-ROBERT.jpg 974w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/PIERRE_RAINERO__-Jean-Fran_ois-ROBERT-228x300.jpg 228w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/PIERRE_RAINERO__-Jean-Fran_ois-ROBERT-779x1024.jpg 779w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/PIERRE_RAINERO__-Jean-Fran_ois-ROBERT-768x1009.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 974px) 100vw, 974px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113927" class="wp-caption-text">Pierre Rainero</figcaption></figure>
Style is not simply a detail at Cartier; it is the foundation on which every creation is built. For more than two decades, Pierre Rainero has held one of the most influential yet understated roles in the luxury world as Cartier’s Image, Style and Heritage Director. Entrusted with safeguarding the maison’s aesthetic DNA while ensuring its continued resonance, he works as both guardian and visionary, linking Cartier’s storied archives with its dynamic present.
In a landscape where fleeting trends and decorative excess often eclipse true design, Rainero champions a deeper value: coherence. Under his discerning eye, every Cartier object must fit within a creative lineage that stretches back to the pioneering spirit of Louis Cartier. Yet this respect for history never restricts innovation.
<figure id="attachment_113924" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113924" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-113924" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-mixed-black-duo-1229x1536-R1-.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1280" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-mixed-black-duo-1229x1536-R1-.jpg 1024w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-mixed-black-duo-1229x1536-R1--240x300.jpg 240w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-mixed-black-duo-1229x1536-R1--819x1024.jpg 819w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-mixed-black-duo-1229x1536-R1--768x960.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113924" class="wp-caption-text">The latest novelties in Cartier’s Tressage family</figcaption></figure>
At Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025, the maison demonstrated this balance with conviction, presenting a wide spectrum of creations ranging from reimagined icons like the automatic Tank Louis Cartier and the storied Tank à Guichets to the architecturally striking new Tressage watch. Across all the novelties, a single message endures through Cartier’s unmistakable design vocabulary: clean lines, perfect balance and expressive clarity.
In this exclusive interview with DA MAN, Rainero offers insight into Cartier’s creative philosophy, the thinking behind its most celebrated new releases and the passion that has shaped his two decades at one of the world’s most revered houses. What emerges is not only a portrait of Cartier today but a window into the meticulous process through which lasting style is conceived, refined and safeguarded. 
DAMAN: In simple terms, how would you describe your role as Cartier’s Image, Style and Heritage Director? 
Pierre Rainero: At the heart of my responsibility lies the Cartier style, ensuring our creations remain unmistakably Cartier. I’m closely involved in the creative process across our métiers, from watches and jewelry to objects and accessories. Yet style at Cartier is never separate from heritage. It’s a continuum born from the founders’ vision and shaped generation after generation. I also work with the communications team to ensure what we say aligns with what we create. In essence, my role is to preserve our identity while projecting it into the future.
DA: Cartier often moves between heritage and modernity. How do you keep that balance relevant today? 
PR: Relevance is central to everything we do. Our founders, especially Louis Cartier, believed that style should evolve continuously. He projected Cartier into the future and welcomed innovation and change. For us, heritage and modernity are not opposites. Our heritage naturally leads us toward the future because that’s what our founders intended.
In our archives we have letters between Louis Cartier, who at one point left Paris, and Jeanne Toussaint, his successor, where he encourages her to explore new territories. They embraced innovation and change, and everything they created carried the idea of future evolutions.
Whenever we begin a new project, we always question the notion of beauty. Is it beautiful? Is it beautiful the Cartier way? Does it reflect the Cartier point of view on beauty today? What we consider beautiful now is not exactly what was considered beautiful a century or even fifty years ago. Beauty and desirability evolve. Every object we create must be both beautiful and wearable.
<figure id="attachment_113928" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113928" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-113928" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WW25_TANK_GUICHET_DP_UK-10-topaz-upscale-2x.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="857" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WW25_TANK_GUICHET_DP_UK-10-topaz-upscale-2x.jpg 1280w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WW25_TANK_GUICHET_DP_UK-10-topaz-upscale-2x-300x201.jpg 300w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WW25_TANK_GUICHET_DP_UK-10-topaz-upscale-2x-1024x686.jpg 1024w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WW25_TANK_GUICHET_DP_UK-10-topaz-upscale-2x-768x514.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113928" class="wp-caption-text">This year’s Tank à Guichets watches, including the Tank à Guichets Oblique</figcaption></figure>
DA: Cartier’s designs remain recognizable even as they evolve. What guides your team when reinterpreting icons like the Tank or creating something new? 
PR: Strong design begins with originality, something distinct from what already exists. But it also requires longevity and adaptability. Louis Cartier called it a “mother idea,” a design so rich it can give birth to many variations. The Tank is the perfect example. Its original form was revolutionary, and it has evolved endlessly while staying true to itself. We design not just for today but for generations to come.
DA: When you revisit historical designs, what does the creative process look like? 
PR: It’s instinctive more than strategic. With Cartier Privé we intentionally revisit the past, choosing pieces that still feel relevant. But we don’t follow fixed formulas. Sometimes it’s about refining proportions or adapting a historical piece with new materials or new functions. There is always a dialogue between past and present guided by feeling and freedom, not a rigid framework. So yes, there are no strict parameters. We feel free to adapt and change things when needed. But it always comes from within, with a lot of freedom.
<figure id="attachment_113923" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113923" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-113923" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cartier-Prive-Tank-a-Guichets-5-1229x1536-R1-.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1280" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cartier-Prive-Tank-a-Guichets-5-1229x1536-R1-.jpg 1024w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cartier-Prive-Tank-a-Guichets-5-1229x1536-R1--240x300.jpg 240w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cartier-Prive-Tank-a-Guichets-5-1229x1536-R1--819x1024.jpg 819w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cartier-Prive-Tank-a-Guichets-5-1229x1536-R1--768x960.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113923" class="wp-caption-text">Close up of the hour and minute apertures on the Tank à Guichets Oblique</figcaption></figure>
DA: What made 2025 the right time for the debut of the automatic Tank Louis Cartier? 
PR: It wasn’t about timing, it was about readiness. We had long wanted to equip the Tank Louis Cartier with an automatic movement. But only now, with the compact 1899 MC caliber, could we do that without compromising its proportions.
The goal wasn’t to enlarge the watch but to achieve the right balance between elegance and practicality, the right proportions.
DA: The Tank à Guichets also made a triumphant return this year. What makes this piece so important in Cartier’s history? 
PR: This model epitomizes Cartier’s philosophy of purity in design. Originally launched in 1928, it pushed minimalism to an extreme: a solid block of metal with two discreet windows to read the time. It’s not just an aesthetic choice, we had to respect its proportions. It’s a statement on reducing the display of time to its essence. Bringing it back required developing a new jumping-hour movement, which took three years. But it was worth it to honor Louis Cartier’s original vision.
<figure id="attachment_113925" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113925" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-113925" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-quad-1536x1229-1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="1024" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-quad-1536x1229-1.jpg 1280w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-quad-1536x1229-1-300x240.jpg 300w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-quad-1536x1229-1-1024x819.jpg 1024w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-quad-1536x1229-1-768x614.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113925" class="wp-caption-text">The latest novelties in Cartier’s Tressage family</figcaption></figure>
DA: The Tressage watch feels like a dramatic shift. What inspired this sculptural direction? 
PR: Tressage isn’t a direct reinterpretation; it’s a creative expression of our freedom to explore volume and sensuality. It plays on the purity of design, but we’re also fully legitimate in the field of extravagance because of our roots in jewelry. Inspired by goldsmithing and jewelry traditions, it plays with texture and movement while remaining ergonomic and elegant. Despite its boldness, it sits naturally on the wrist. That’s Cartier elegance: visible, expressive yet never overpowering. And the way the tressage is made is very important. We know there are many possibilities for the future, with different propositions, colors, materials and treatments of the jewelry element, the dial and the strap. It can be endless.
DA: With interest growing in both vintage revivals and avant-garde pieces, how does Cartier approach the need for innovation? 
PR: We pursue both, always. We cannot simply rework existing designs. Reimagining icons is inspiring, but on a permanent basis we’re just as committed to exploring new territories. Innovation keeps our creative teams energized and our clients intrigued. Expect more in both directions, you will see both approaches in our future propositions.
<figure id="attachment_113926" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113926" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-113926" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-white-gold-1-1229x1536-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1280" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-white-gold-1-1229x1536-1.jpg 1024w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-white-gold-1-1229x1536-1-240x300.jpg 240w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-white-gold-1-1229x1536-1-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cartier-tressage-white-gold-1-1229x1536-1-768x960.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113926" class="wp-caption-text">The latest novelties in Cartier’s Tressage family</figcaption></figure>
DA: Are there archive pieces you hope to bring back someday? 
PR: Absolutely. We have many other inspirations. Jeanne Toussaint once expressed frustration that the Panther overshadowed many of Cartier’s other beautiful motifs, including birds, lizards, different animals and abstract forms. Our archives are rich with untapped ideas. But we must be selective. Not everything can return at once. The only real constraint is very simple: how many different objects we can propose at the same time in the window. We have to manage that. Timing, relevance and diversity across the collection all play a role.
DA: After more than 20 years shaping Cartier’s identity, what excites you most about its horological future? 
PR: It’s the shared culture, the collective artistry across disciplines. At Cartier, style isn’t dictated by one person; it’s embodied by everyone from designers to watchmakers to stone setters. The maison loves to be challenged and will always go further. That human element, the shared pursuit of excellence, still fascinates me. What excites me most is seeing this unified vision take form again and again in ways that are as human as they are beautiful.

In conversation with Cartier’s Pierre Rainero on the maison’s style and heritage

Cartier,

Pierre Rainero