oday, the Cartier Watchmaking Prize for Talents of Tomorrow is evolving and expanding with the introduction of a jewellery award, becoming the Cartier Talents of Tomorrow Prize.
Established in 1995, this award invites emerging talent specialising in watchmaking to reinterpret a movement each year around a specific theme. The award recognises apprentices and students enrolled in academic, apprenticeship or work-study programmes from Switzerland, France, Belgium and Germany, and, as of this year, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
The new jewellery award is open to students in France, Italy and Switzerland who have completed at least two years of training within a jewellery-focused programme, whether through formal education, an apprenticeship or a work-study scheme.
This new edition of the award recognises three young winners in each discipline for their technical expertise and creative boldness, celebrating innovation at the heart of watchmaking and jewellery- making traditions.
For this latest edition, “Cartier’s Wild Fauna” serves as the shared theme across both disciplines. A natural choice, the theme offers a vast and inspiring creative landscape to explore. From the panther to the tiger and the crocodile, animal motifs have long played a defining role in Cartier’s creations. The theme also echoes the Maison’s recent creations, from the Panthère Métiers d’Art watches unveiled at Watches and Wonders to the latest jewellery creations that continue to explore the richness of the animal kingdom.
Candidates for the watchmaking award will be asked to interpret these animals through the lens of the Maison’s 1847 MC movement, while entrants to the jewellery award will be tasked with expressing the presence of an animal in the form of a brooch. Participants will be free to explore the aesthetic and creative possibilities of their respective disciplines in order to produce a highly personal interpretation.
From 1 October to 30 November 2026, applicants are invited to submit their entries. The eight shortlisted candidates in each discipline will then develop their project over a maximum of 80 hours of work, spread across three months. Throughout this period, they will receive individual mentorship from a mentor of their choice, external to Cartier. At the end of the three months, they will submit their completed project along with a logbook documenting the key stages of development, supported by sketches and photographs.
The award ceremonies will take place in spring 2027.
The 2027 Cartier Tomorrow’s Talents Prize watchmaking jury includes:
- Roy Davidoff, specialist in vintage watches and co-founder of Roy & Sacha Davidoff SA
- Pascale Lepeu, Director of the Cartier Collection
- Nathalie Marielloni, Curator at the Musée international d’horlogerie
- Pascal Ravessoud, Vice-President of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, watchmaking specialist and collector
- Kari Voutilainen, independent watchmaker
For the jewellery prize, the jury includes:
- Alexa Abitbol, Director of the Cartier High Jewellery Manufacture
- François Curiel, Chairman of Christie’s Europe, jewellery specialist
- Hervé Dewintre, jewellery journalist
- Mathieu Rousset-Perrier Heritage Curator at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs
- Laurent Laroche, CEO of Cristofol
Rooted in exceptional savoir-faire, the Maison works to support the transmission and continuity of its crafts, as well as the development of new skills in respect of its traditions. Promoting the expertise of its artisans and supporting tomorrow’s talent are two areas of action that Cartier considers part of its responsibility.
Founded in 1993 to help train the watchmakers of tomorrow, the Maison set up the Cartier Watchmaking Institute in Switzerland. Open to apprentices and artisans within the Cartier Manufactures, the Institute provides training in the disciplines of watchmaking, polishing, microtechnology and mechanics. This unique site is now recognised as a benchmark in the research and support of young watchmaking talent. Nearly 200 apprentices have been trained there, while around 100 employees each year deepen their expertise through dedicated courses and training programmes.
In response to internal training needs and to promote jewellery professions, the Maison opened the Cartier Jewellery Institute in 2002 in the heart of Paris. Through this pioneering initiative, Cartier affirms its commitment to providing concrete responses to the challenges and developments shaping the jewellery sector. In this way, the Cartier Jewellery Institute, an engine of transmission and openness, offers training in traditional jewellery crafts. It also enables the transmission, from one artisan to another, of skills that do not yet have formal educational pathways, such as bead stringing or animal sculpture in wax.
Within this framework, more than 170 of the Maison’s artisans are trained each year. In addition, as part of cross-disciplinary collaboration, the Institute offers cross-training programmes that allow artisans to complement their initial training by discovering another craft.
