Talking Cartier with John Goldberger

Okay, so thank you so much for being here and welcome you. We're at Time On Show in Bologna. I'm Giulia and I'm here with Auro, also known as John Goldberger. So I would like to introduce you and talk about your background story with Cartier. I want to know what captured your attention and brought you closer to the brand. It's very simple. I discovered Cartier in the 78 when I started collecting watches. I saw a tank, I bought it. It was in a flea market in New York a long time ago. It was a platinum example from the 50s and I love the elegance and the timeless design on the wrist. Okay, so I think timeless is a good word to start from. I think the fascinating part about the Cartier design is the simple shapes. Yeah, you imagine Louis Cartier in the early century or past century launched the first modern watch, the Santos. After that the Tank, Tank Centauri, Tonneau and for that period all the wristwatches are pocket watches converted on the wrist. Round watches, onion watches and he invented something very modern for the time with the great shape, the great construction of the case with the screw and with the sapphire crown. He also invented later the deployant buckle. So we can say that Cartier has been associated to an upper class and a more elegant one. Yeah, you imagine if you want to buy a Cartier wristwatch in the 20s to travel with the boat or by train around the world to go to Paris and to buy watches. It was a very upgrade. Yeah, niche. But at this moment in time it's more common to see, let's say, the rap world or a more hip-hop culture getting closer to the brand. Lately, yes. I saw many rappers and many artists wearing Cartier. Yeah, recently I feel like we've seen many rappers wearing tiny Cartier. Yeah, I remember I took a famous photo of Tyler on the web, Tyler the Creator wearing his crèche in Monte Carlo with a big hat at an auction and it was a pop on the culture. Yeah, I feel like now we're starting to see even a younger generation approaching to the brand. How do you feel about that? I'm very happy because I have to follow always this young generation. They like something new. The Cartier is not new because the design is almost one century old, but it's new and modern contemporary design. Do you think it would be more of a trend for them, a temporary thing, or does Cartier have the basis to establish itself as a young collector brand? You know, Cartier is working well with On Heritage, launching every year a new model with the design and the roots of the company, of the brand. This is very important. Yeah, so Cartier has three homes, London, Paris, and New York, and each of these cities have a unique and strong personality. If you imagine the past century, in the 20s, Paris was the center of the world for clothes, perfumes, watches, and decoration. In the 60s, London was the center of the world, bringing London ears for the music, cars, and design, and watches. In the 70s, it was New York. Yeah, each one of them had their own turn at being at the center of the world. New York with modern art and other things. Yeah, and how do you feel about Cartier, let's say, uniting these three identities under the same vision? Does it translate in different designs, different approaches? No, Jean-Jacques Cartier in the 60s, he was a kind of a customer. They needed something different from the Paris brand, something new with unusual design, and he redesigned the classic model from Cartier with a different case shape, different dial without assuming the fur, and with the Cartier cursive signature, and also invented the crèche and the other strange models, like the octagon, the Lanzano, the oval one, oval two. I see a nice Cartier on your wrist. No, the new Cartier is they relaunched the Cartier Normale in platinum with the platinum bracelet. It was a limited edition, and I purchased it one year ago. Okay, can you tell us a story about one Cartier that, you know, you just somehow were looking for, found in a special occasion? I saw an old photo from the aerials department in Cartier about a very unusual watch. I remember it was a big tank with a multi-color enamel engraving case. They made it for the Pasha of Marrakech. I never saw this model, just the black and white photo. They made a very nice square chronograph monopusher. They were allowed to design it 10 years ago in the Coalition Privé, and also I saw other strange Cartier by London, but just from the drawings. Yeah, are you more impulsive when it comes to buying watches, or do you think about them, come back to them? How long does it take for you to buy a watch? I'm very fast. If I like it, I buy it. Yeah. The problem is that my appetites are larger than my pockets. Okay, so which characteristic brought you closer to the brand over the years, making you, let's say, choose Cartier among other brands always? I love all the watch brands. Okay. I have a big passion for Longines, Omega, Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Cartier, but the preferred watch to wear is Cartier. Okay, and why is that? Because it's very simple, it's time-only. Okay. And it's still elegant, and it's a contemporary watch. Would you say it's suitable for any occasion? Yeah, I don't care about the watch and the clothes and dinner, lunch. Yeah, if it's anything. Yeah. Would you say you spend more time looking for Cartier, or finding them? Now, my journey in collecting is almost finished. I'm getting older, I'm six years old, and I'm still excited to find something new on the market. But the research is the most exciting part. For me, yes. To own a watch is not very important for me. For me, the important journey is to catch the watch. Okay. Do you have a particular story in mind of finding a watch that took you a long time? No. I bought always in my comfort zone, by auction house or by good dealers. Okay. I don't make strange travels or strange acquisitions around the world. Okay, yeah, it makes sense. I don't buy on the internet. Only in person? Yeah. Okay. I like to talk with the dealer. Yeah. Nice. I feel like that also makes up... Because I like to know the history about the watch, the provenance of this kind of... And it adds to the experience. The storytelling about the watch. Yeah. If you had to describe Cartier in three words, what would they be? The timeless design. Okay. Because Cartier, they make not many complications in the watch. Its complication is the design. Yeah. And I feel like it's very common to see and associate the brand and the design to very simple shapes. You know, the horseshoe. Yeah. You're wearing a tonneau. Yeah. Yeah. Tan normal. I feel like that's the beauty of it. You know, understanding the shape and it's never shallow. It's never... They made also complicated shape, like the shake. Yeah. In the 80s, they made the people, they made other strange watches with diamonds. But there's still... I feel like the beauty is still that you can recognize that shape, even though it's made and crafted in a complicated way, as you said. Also, you can recognize a Cartier timepiece, especially for the dial. Yeah. You know, the Roman numerals are very strong. Cartier. Yeah. Appealing. They made also with Arabic numerals, other kind of indexes. But, you know, definitely their signature. The crown, the diaphragm buckle, and the dial Cartier. And does the Cartier of your dreams exist? Have you found it? Do you have it? No, the two watches I described to you before, from the original photo from Cartier. Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. Bye.