Begin the year in April, when the fiscal year begins. Start with a major launch: the first new watch in five years. Move to the next month. Launch a minor fine jewellery collection with a movie star. Now it is June, and two new collections: one linked to an art fair, the next to a charity event. Throw in something left-field: a handbag. July: underwrite a sporting event; host a party. Blow out September with the largest high jewellery collection you have ever made, and introduce it with an equally large party in London. Slide into October with assorted arts events. In the middle of it all, open 30 more stores, including one in Red Square. Welcome to the 2007 schedule of Bernard Fornas, chief executive of Cartier.

“There’s not one week when something new is not happening,” he says. “We keep thinking that next year things will be quieter, but then we get more bullish year after year. I think this is how it will be from now on.”