PROPOSING a bright new future for the advanced art of horology, King Charles III’s The King’s Foundation have announced a prestigious postgraduate fellowship programme with Cartier, centred around ‘Decorative Métiers d’Art in Watchmaking’.
Established with the shared endeavour to ‘preserve rare artistry crafts’ and ‘support the next generation of talent’, The King’s Foundation and the famed French jewellery maison have come together to offer emerging watch designers and UK-based jewellery graduates the opportunity to hone their skills through a seven-month bursary-funded partnership.
Cartier and The King’s Foundation Postgraduate Fellowship at Dumfries House
Housed in The King’s Foundation’s Scottish headquarters —Dumfries House in Ayrshire — students will receive mentorship from expert tutors and master craftspeople and participate in five months of formal training followed by two months of practical project work. Set to launch a new cohort of master watchmakers, this exceptional programme will not only bolster fledgling businesses but also emphasise expertise in savoir-faire and specialist techniques such as champlevé, grisaille, and marquetry.
Building on Cartier’s legacy as the official warranted Jewellers and Watchmakers to His Majesty The King, this initiative simultaneously promotes its pioneering spirit of intergenerational talent incubation. Having first introduced its annual ‘Cartier Prize for Watchmaking Talents of Tomorrow’ thirty years ago, this unique programme will usher in a more extensive range of young creatives and will even offer chosen candidates the chance to visit Cartier’s Maison des Métiers d’Art in Switzerland, situated beside its Watchmaking Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Cartier and The King’s Foundation Postgraduate Fellowship at Dumfries House
Commenting on this career-defining course, Cartier President and Ceo Louis Ferla shares that ‘Support for creative talents in watchmaking and the métiers d’art is crucial to ensure these ancestral skills are transmitted to the next generation, where they can continue to share their singular beauty’.
Think you’ve got what it takes to be the next horological hero à la Abraham-Louis Breguet, Hans Wilsdorf or Louis Cartier? Apply to the Métiers d’Art Programme to find out.
Places open via kingsfoundation.org on Monday 27 April 2026.
by Ella O’Gorman