Cartier in Motion, exhibition review: Sky’s the limit in a sublime homage to a master watchmaker

Cartier’s association with glamour, Polo, plus a Who’s Who of wearers from Noel Coward to Andy Warhol and latterly the Duchess of Cambridge, is well known. But what is less well known is that in 1904, Cartier made the world’s first wristwatch for eccentric, rich Brazilian aeronautical pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont.

France’s answer to William Heath Robinson, after one too many crashes racing ludicrously fragile airships, he began designing planes. These would culminate in Demoiselle 20, a masterpiece of bamboo frame, silk wings and what look like bicycle wheels. A full-size 21-foot model is on show. In this cross between a dog-basket and a giant moth, in 1909 Santos-Dumont broke the air-speed record at 55.8 miles an hour.

He asked his friend, Louis Cartier, then designing exquisite pocket watches and clocks and sold in his Rue de la Paix showroom, to invent a very accurate timepiece to wear on the wrist while flying. In 1917 came the Tank — first worn by General Pershing.

Curator Sir Norman Foster reveals how Haussmann’s 1848 radial plan of Paris resembled a watch face, and how engineers and inventors cross-pollinated at a time of global travel and exploration. The rivets and screws on those early watches echoed the 1889 Eiffel tower, and the Tank’s inspiration is easy to guess.

Alongside three good films, 170 exhibits include early Santos-Dumonts and desirably austere Tanks, as well as the 1906 Tonnue (barrel) and 1912 Tortue (tortoise). Later cult models include the quirky 1967 Crash —supposedly based on a squashed watch. Magical clocks with invisible mechanisms, and a recreation of Santos-Dumont’s daft but appealing 10 foot-high dining table, make a riveting show.

Until July 28, Design Museum; designmuseum.org