The Cartier Exhibition 2025 at the V&A Museum, London.

Alvin
May 16
4 min read

Don't you love it when you get a pleasant surprise. One sunny day in May, and you're off to the Cartier Exhibition at the V&A Museum in South Kensington, London. There's a breeze and as the sun reflects and sparkles in the various monumental buildings old and new, you wonder what other shiny, sparkly things are in store. You guess there will be a watch or two, maybe one that belonged to the Queen or was worn in a movie way back when, but if there is one thing of which you're sure, is that there will be jewels galore.

Imagine your pleasant surprise then when there are numerous mystery clocks, in styles tailored to the Queens of England, kings of industry, sirens of the screen or maharaja's of Indian states. Let's put aside the probable questionable sourcing of gemstones and rather than look at this through the lens of money, value and wealth - let's go with art, design and craftsmanship.

Patiala necklace 1928 (restored 1999-2000) & Choker necklace 1928 (restored 2008).

I have to give some props to the Indian connection here (I have Indian origins but UK born and raised). This set was one of the craziest for all out outrageousness, they belonged to Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. He commissioned the ceremonial pair in platinum rather than the usual Indian tradition of 22k gold. They both went missing after Indian independence in 1947 and when they were rediscovered (it doesn't say when) the largest gems were missing. It's now in the Cartier Collection and features, diamonds, cubic zirconia, synthetic rubies, smoky quartz and citrine - you can bet it was all top shelf before it was de-jewelled.

Please forgive the quality of some photos, lighting was challenging and it was very busy, the setting was dark and moody and most items were spotlit. I also didn't get the details for all the pieces, so there is some missing info - if I got it I added it.

Then imagine your joy, when you see a corridor of Cartier timepieces, watches, brooches, and even a carabiner - I dunno why it exists but it's cool that it does. I was a very happy fanboy indeed! There is something about Cartier that I have always been a fan of, before I bought my first one I enjoyed the design language and that they stayed true to the early iconic designs - making subtle changes and tweaks but keeping the spirit of the originals alive. They created the first men's wrist watch after all, the Cartier Santos Dumont, that was in 1904, the brand itself was founded in 1847. Cartier link watches and jewellery in history like no other house, and the same is true for their continued trajectory - they are somehow at the top end of both fields.

Carabiner watch, 2024 - Brough Family Collection.

Well there are a lot of photos to share and a lot of adjectives I could use to describe my feelings and the watches, but what we'll do is just list the images with the descriptions and you can enjoy them.

There are 2,473 diamonds in that 'impressive snake' (for any Metal Gear Solid fans).

There were quite a few mystery clocks on display, some from the early 1900, I didn't realise they'd been doing them for so long. They have done a few watches in the same style, i.e. floating hands (they are mounted on sapphire discs, the discs are connected to the movement).

They had a whole bunch of very fancy brooches on display, but what good is a brooch if it isn't a watch brooch - a more elegant alternative to a pocket watch.

These couple of Panthere de Cartier bracelets are nice, but what good are bracelets when they could be watches...

How's that for a wall of fame then, legends upon classics upon icons. Some the watches we might recognise like the Asymetrique and Baignoire, weren't initially called the names they are now.

I liked the pebble, it's a bit weird but it's cool, like me...

And finally the piece de resistance, the Cartier Crash, originally released by Cartier London in 1967. It was very cool to see this very famous timepiece in the flesh. It's quite striking and bold, I can see now what all the fuss is about. It has a very pleasing fluid and organic vibe to it, and you can see that it in the photos but you don't get the real surreal feel until you see it from all angles. A cracker, and yours for around about the bargain price of a medium size house (£300,000).

That's it then, I think you've probably had enough Cartier action for now, although I could not get enough of it (I need more Cartier watches, I need them so much, so many). I'm going to try and go back, the show is very popular - it is sold out in May and June and all weekends in July are too but I will find a way back.

It's a real treat and though jewellery and watches are complete materialistic, consumerist nonsense, they ain't half pretty, and you know I love me a bit of pretty!

Thanks for stopping by.

Yours Crashingly,

Alvin.

P.S.

I really liked this pearl and diamond Russian tiara, I would so wear it.