At MATTE, we believe that the most authentic inspiration can be found in the deep storytelling that exists in our clients’ brand histories.
Cartier approached MATTE with their Heritage Team for one such filmmaking endeavor. The brand had identified storied archival High Jewelry pieces with deep untold stories, beginning with a delicate and dynamic design, “The Rock Crystal Brooch” of 1926.
The brooch unites a combination of different influences, representing a style upheaval taking place in New York in the 1920s as Art Deco and Jazz swept through the culture and ushered in new eras of design, music, and ways of seeing the world.
We took our inspiration from raw material that the brand developed with an academic researcher. MATTE wrote a script, devised a narrative, and created all new visuals of the brooch, generated through illustration, digital collage, and 3D modeling– meant to articulate the visual evolution of a Cartier piece from pencil and gouache to platinum and diamond.
The film is a live experience, played for visitors and clients at The Cartier Mansion on Fifth Avenue, the brand’s global flagship retail location. Spread across four monitors, the content expands across the room as the narrative develops and the story deepens.
The audio for the film is comprised of an original score and a voiceover recording of our original script.
Through our film, The Rock Crystal Brooch returns to its birthplace of the Mansion, the site of the original workshop where it was created nearly 100 years ago. It is currently on display through 2022.
