GENEVA – There is a moment Cartier chief executive Louis Ferla likes to describe. Someone receives a red box, that unmistakable Cartier red, and before it is even opened, his or her face changes. 

“I’ve never seen anybody receiving a red box and being upset,” he says, adding that he has seen that reaction play out across the world, from Hong Kong to Shanghai to Dubai.

“Maybe (afterwards) if there’s been a misunderstanding. But before they open it? Never.”

The Frenchman, who succeeded Mr Cyrille Vigneron in September 2024, has spent more than 25 years in the luxury industry. Before joining the maison’s top job, he spent seven years leading Vacheron Constantin.

Mr Ferla is holding court with half a dozen international watch journalists during a closed-door media session at Cartier’s sprawling Watches and Wonders 2026 booth. Across the table sits Mr Pierre Rainero, the brand’s director of image, style and heritage, and – after four decades at the maison – one of the foremost custodians of Cartier’s history and identity.