CARTOUCHE

In watchmaking, the cartouche is a raised ornamental element found on dials, and sometimes on a Bridge. It appears as a frame or a delimited area, often of geometric shape, intended to receive an inscription or to highlight a decoration. Thus, a manufacturer’s mark is frequently transferred onto the cartouche of a Dial guilloché, where the smooth surface of the cartouche contrasts with the surrounding pattern and ensures its legibility. The cartouche can be machined directly into the Mass of the dial or added on, in the manner of an Applied marker fixed on the surface. It plays both an aesthetic and functional role: structuring the composition of the Dial, prioritizing information and asserting the identity of the piece. Inherited from the vocabulary of architecture and decorative arts, where it designates an ornate frame, the Cartouche illustrates horology’s constant borrowings from ornamental arts.