< Previous30 - INNOVATORS - The Timekeeper At Cartier, one man is charged with protecting the maison’s heritage while delivering desirable novelties Pasha de Cartier steel tourbillon skeleton watch. AD_036_30-31_Radar_Cartier_11457794.indd 3013/12/2020 10:01:59 AMN o matter how accustomed we are to the immediacy of the Zoom meeting, there are some experiences that just don’t translate into the virtu- al realm. One of them is see- ing the world’s fi nest gemstones which, no matter how advanced the technology, is best done in person to fully appreciate their lus- tre. “We have tried to see the clarity and char- acter of the stones,” says Pierre Rainero, image and style director of Cartier. “But, hon- estly, it’s not the best way of working. There’s a preciousness that needs to be experienced.” Luckily, it’s that sense of the rarefi ed that Rainero, who joined the peerless Paris house in 1984 and ascended to his current role in 2001, knows a great deal about. He’s the cus- todian of the Cartier ‘codes’ – the stylistic tenets set by the late Jacques Cartier in the early 20th century, which Rainero imple- ments across the ateliers that run the high jewellery, timepiece and objets collections. “It’s about ensuring a common vision, and it helps to see it as a living language,” he says from his book-lined Paris offi ce. “We have our grammar, our structure, and that doesn’t change. Then there’s our vocabulary, which is always evolving.” Rainero is tasked with maintaining the integrity and aesthetic sensi- bilities of the house while ensuring that new creations chime with the zeitgeist. “We are always going forward,” he says decisively. “Expressing something today and looking at tomorrow is our main provocation.” That’s never more evident than in this year’s reinterpretation of the iconic Pasha timepiece, which pays homage to the dynam- ic design blueprint of the legendary watch designer Gerald Genta. In 1985, he delved into the archives to fi nd that the Pasha of Marrakech had commissioned Cartier to craft a gold, water resistant watch for his daily swims; Genta reinvented it as a sleek, modern design. The same sentiment informs the new Asymetrique Tank, which features a diago- nally slanted dial, fi rst conceived in 1936. Cartier’s wildly opulent (Sur)Naturel high jewellery collection, combines the craft and excellence that’s inherent in the 173-year-old house with some eye popping theatrics. Take, for instance, the Panthere Tropicale watch, where the dots of the iconic panther dapple the bracelet as diamonds and onyx gems. Elsewhere in the collection, the Sinope neck- FROM TOP: The Sinope high jewellery necklace; a new Asymetrique Tank watch; Pierre Rainero; Panthère de Cartier ring. lace features ripples of diamonds with a sea- foam spray of sapphires and lapis lazuli. “Interpreting nature in our own unique way has been one of the key stylisations of the house,” adds Rainero. Even with the tremors of the past year, business amongst the strata who fi ll the wait- ing lists for exceptional jewels was robust. Cartier might be renowned for the charm of its Old World customer service, but the brand has worked digitally to liaise with clients on Whatsapp and Instagram. Often, jewellery is selected as a sentimental gift between men and women, but Rainero notes that “we have a great deal of women today who are serious collectors.” No doubt, of more than just jew- els; alongside jewellery and watches, his oth- er endeavour is the more lighthearted world of Cartier Objets. “It began as an off ering decades ago, as a service to our faithful clients,” he says. “There should be a certain lightness to them, they are part of a playful life.” That sense of whimsy parlays into the trinket trays painted with charming imagery, ceramic panther fi gurines and stationery dotted with dancing bellboys. Is it a challenge to usher the iconography of the past into the future? “Of course, we feel the weight of our ancestors,” says Rainero, “while at the same time knowing we are answerable to our successors to come.” cartier.com – STEPHEN DOIG AD_036_30-31_Radar_Cartier_11457794.indd 3113/12/2020 10:02:11 AM32 - INSIDE STORY - Jewel in the Crown For generations, family workshop Maison Tarazi has hand-crafted furniture and architectural fi nishes for Beirut’s historic royal palaces and museums. This is its fascinating story AD_036_32-35_Radar_InsideStoryMaisonTarazi_11456291.indd 3213/12/2020 10:03:59 AMAlcazar Hotel, Beirut 1959. Top right: The Four Seasons Hotel, Beirut 2009. U ntil August 4, 2020, the ceiling of Maison Tarazi’s showroom in the Mar Mikhael district of Beirut was a striking showcase of its craft: a honeycomb of plaster hexa- gons and squares, each delicately hand-painted and carved with fl oral and geometric patterns. Then, an explosion of ammonium nitrate, stored just 500m away at the city’s port, left it in fragments, along with much of the family fi rm’s work. For decades, Maison Tarazi’s extraordinary decorative furni- ture and fi nishes – ranging from inlaid mother of pearl to delicately engraved brass, moucharabieh panels and trompe l’oeil friezes – have been a feature of interiors across Beirut and beyond, in royal palaces, museums, hotels and private villas. Now, the workshop that has long specialised in restoring historic buildings fi nds itself challenged with its biggest reconstruction project yet. It’s not Maison Tarazi’s fi rst brush with adversity, reveals Camille Tarazi, who runs the business alongside his father Michel Emile, mother Lina and siblings Carole and Charles. “When Dimitri Tarazi founded his shop in Beirut in 1862, then expanded to Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo and Alexandria, several Tarazi sons went to each of the cities to establish themselves,” he explains. The origi- nal shops sold furniture, textiles and oriental goods alongside the family’s signature line of printed postcards, which conjured the romance of the Near East. “After the First World War, they went bankrupt in both Egypt and Palestine. A fi re destroyed the Damascus shop in 1924, and the branch in Beirut was forced to close by loss and debts. Despite all this, my great-grandfather Georges Dimitri Tarazi decided to carry on, buying the shares of his brothers and sisters in order to honour the family name.” This resilience endures to the present day, with Camille joining the company while he was still an architecture student at Beirut’s Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts. “Passion, perseverance, quality, creativity, AD_036_32-35_Radar_InsideStoryMaisonTarazi_11456291.indd 3313/12/2020 10:04:13 AM34 - INSIDE STORY - a sense of challenge – these are just some of the principles that we maintain from generation to generation, which have ensured the legacy of Maison Tarazi.” On the day after the explosion, Camille and his team made the rounds of the city – particularly the Sursock district, with its network of palaces and museums – gath- ering up pieces of woodwork, stained glass and mouchar- abieh so that they could begin the task of reconstruction. Luckily, no-one from the showroom was injured in the blast – it had closed early that day due to Covid-19 restric- tions – but everyone was reminded of just how many important buildings Maison Tarazi has made its mark on. Among them are the famous Sursock Museum, founded by collector Nicolas Sursock in 1952, and the Sursock Palace, where the carved brass entrance door, created by Maison Tarazi in 1915, was blown out and broken in half. Many such projects have been worked on by multiple generations of Tarazis. The magnifi cent Résidence des Pins is a case in point: built in 1916, the offi cial residence of the French Ambassador boasts a sculpted wooden gate by Gebran Dimitri Tarazi, which was restored in 1996 by Camille’s father along with an opulent panelled Ottoman Room. Not everything the company works on is tradi- tional, however; it has embraced modern technology, such as laser cutting, to improve its execution. FROM TOP: Stained glass windows (1908) at Villa Sursock, Beirut; painted & carved wood folding chair; ornate doors (1915) at the Alfred Sursock Palace, Beirut; inlaid mother- of-pearl chest. P H O TOS : IM AD E LKH O U R Y; RO D R IG U E Z A H R AD_036_32-35_Radar_InsideStoryMaisonTarazi_11456291.indd 3413/12/2020 10:04:45 AM“We always complete things with handmade touches and reinterpret classical styles in our own way,” says Camille. “Sometimes, new directions emerge during the making process; it depends on the client’s desire to exper- iment.” Many of the artisans Maison Tarazi works with have been linked with the company for generations, pro- ducing everything from hand-blown glass to marquetry in Lebanon, Syria and Morocco. While Beirut’s landmarks are undergoing repairs, Maison Tarazi’s continued presence is assured thanks to its elegant furniture, lighting and homewares (including a line of contemporary spoons and candleholders by Carole Tarazi). You’ll also spot its craftsmanship at the Yildiz Palace in Istanbul, which houses a carved wood throne made for Sultan Abdel Hamid II in 1900, and on ornamental panelling at Four Seasons hotels in Beirut, Alexandria, Cairo, Bahrain and Damascus. Meanwhile, the private owners of Tarazi works, in homes from Athens to Amman and London, doubtless prize them more high- ly than ever. maisontarazi.com – AMY BRADFORD “ Dimitri Tarazi opened shops in Beirut, Cairo, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Damascus ” Dimitri Tarazi pictured with the throne of Sultan Abdel Hamid II, Istanbul 1900. Left: A detail of the intricately engraved doors at the Alfred Sursock Palace. FROM TOP: A decorative panel created for Beirut’s Four Seasons Hotel; mother-of-pearl tripod table and angle chair. AD_036_32-35_Radar_InsideStoryMaisonTarazi_11456291.indd 3513/12/2020 10:05:41 AM36 - JEWELLERY - C laire Choisne is a jewellery magician. The Boucheron creative director’s charm and modesty belies her absolute power to innovate and capti- vate with her creations, and at the same time make pieces that are utterly wearable. Having captured real fl owers for eternity and turned sand into precious bau- bles in the past, her latest high jewellery col- lection, ‘Contemplation’, seeks to evoke the heavens by utilising materials more com- monly used in space exploration. It is a project that has been in development ever since she visited Naoshima, Japan’s remote art island, three years ago. A skyroom by James Turrell, where the visitor’s eye is directed to the clouds drifting by in the roof opening high above their head, was particu- larly inspiring. “Life is such a rush most of the time and I loved that the island gave me so much space for contemplation,” she says. It was a feeling Choisne wanted to transfer into jewellery, no easy feat given the elusive- ness of both emotions and changing skies ver- sus the forever nature of precious metals and gemstones. Success, was achieved with a determination that she has had ever since she was at jewellery school. “I would get so frus- trated when my teachers would tell me that I should focus on technique and that my ideas m po va the same time m wearable. Having eternity and turn bles in the past, h lection, ‘Contemp heavens by utili monly used in spa It is a project th ever since she remote art island by James Turrell directed to the cl opening high abo larly inspiring. “L time and I loved much space for co It was a feeling into jewellery, no ness of both emot sus the forever na gemstones. Succ determination th was at jewellery s trated when my t should focus on t ire Choisne is a je magician. The Bo reative director’s ch modesty belies her vate lai m cr m Look to the Skies Boucheron’s creative director has infused an innovative high jewellery collection with an air of contemplation Avant le Frisson necklace. BELOW: Perles de Plume necklace. RIGHT: Caresse de Plume brooch. AD_036_36-37_Radar_Boucheron_11444759.indd 3613/12/2020 10:08:01 AMdiamonds. “It’s like a magical stone,” she says. “It’s slightly transparent and hard to say what it is when you see it, but like a blue sky chang- es with the movement of the sun, it changes with whatever you wear it with.” In contrast to many contemporary high jewellery collections that off er a rain- bow-wide spectrum of coloured gemstones, in Contemplation, Choisne has stuck to a pared-back sky-inspired palette of white, greys and blues. She is grateful to Hélène Poulit–Duquesne, Boucheron’s chief execu- tive, for giving her the freedom to remain true to her original vision rather than pressuring her to off er something to please all tastes. “It makes the entire collection coherent and pure,” she says. She also counts herself fortu- nate that Boucheron’s clients are similarly bold in their trust as well. “They don’t just want the biggest diamond in the world. They understand the value of creation,” she says. In other pieces, innovation takes a back- seat to archival inspiration and refi ned crafts- manship. A 1901 hair piece of graduated dia- monds had a simplicity and sense of movement that appealed to Choisne. She turned it on its side to create En Passant, an earring that appears like a cloud hovering over the ear. “It expresses the lightness and movement of a cloud perfectly,” she says. boucheron.com – RA CHEL GARRAHAN “ I wanted to off er a piece of the sky to the woman ” were impossible to create. It really represent- ed a lack of freedom to me,” she laughs. Fast forward to Boucheron today and Choisne is able to let her imagination run wild fi rst and then set out to fi nd a way to bring her vision to life. The Fenêtre Sur Ciel necklace is the result. “I wanted to off er a piece of the sky to the woman,” she says. This was achieved by creating a titanium knit scarf of tiny hexagons that are set with diamonds and mother of pearl. The iridescence of the latter glimmers through 30 microscopic lay- ers of lacquer which recreate the eff ect of ever-changing skies. In lesser hands, this could have been an experiment gone horribly wrong, but Choisne has been bowled over by what her artisans were able to achieve. “It really is like gazing at the sky and the fl exibil- ity is amazing,” she says. While looking for another way to capture the sky in a jewel, she came across Aerogel, a synthetic porous material derived from a gel, in which the liquid component has been replaced with a gas. One of the lightest solid materials known to man, it is more common- ly used to insulate spacesuits and Mars rov- ers. Yet, for Choisne, it was its ethereal appearance that captured her attention and led her to search for a craftsperson (she fi nal- ly found one in Athens) who could set it for eternity in a large pendant of rock crystal and ver you wear it with.” ys. at g- CLOCKWISE: Quatre cuff ; Flèche du Temps earring; a cotton maquette of the Nuage en Apesanteur necklace; Fenêtre Sur Ciel necklace; Goutte de Silence earrings; Pearl du Jour ring. AD_036_36-37_Radar_Boucheron_11444759.indd 3713/12/2020 10:09:50 AM- A D Par tnership - AD_036_38-41_Partnership_Maserati_11460197.indd 3813/12/2020 10:20:08 AMBACK TO THE FUTURE Maserati has relaunched itself in style with the MC20, a super sports car that speaks to its illustrious heritage and bright future in equal measure AD_036_38-41_Partnership_Maserati_11460197.indd 3913/12/2020 10:20:19 AMNext >