It’s Show Time
A PEEK INTO THE TIMEPIECE TREATS CARTIER HAS IN STORE THIS MONTH AT WATCHES & WONDERS
Eighteen new watches, two in-house movements, five unique pieces of high jewellery and a mystery clock are among the exclusive creations that Cartier is revealing this month at the second edition of Watches & Wonders, the annual haute horlogerie show which runs from September 30 to October 2 at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre.
“Cartier possesses a unique status in the world of watchmaking,” says Stanislas de Quercize, president and CEO of Cartier International. “From haute horlogerie to beautiful high jewellery watches, iconic creations and métiers d’art reviving forgotten specialist skills, Watches & Wonders offers the possibility to experience the scope of our maison’s expertise.”
This year, Cartier presents an in-house mechanical movement skeletonised in the shape of a dragon. Housed in a Pasha de Cartier case, the manual-winding 9617CM calibre is visible through the sapphire crystal, crafted in platinum set with 233 diamonds, with a marquise-cut tsavorite for the dragon’s eye. The movement is entirely
engraved on the back and offers a power reserve of approximately three days. The watch comes in a 42mm white gold case with a diamond-set bezel and crown, and a choice of black alligator-skin strap or articulated bracelet in white gold set with brilliant-cut or baguette diamonds.
To emphasise its high jewellery expertise, Cartier is also set to showcase secret timepieces displaying the hours and minutes amid an array of rare tourmalines, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. Among the unique pieces is a bangle with obsidian and a 19.20-carat, cushion-cut yellow sapphire, as well as a cuff bracelet with cobra motif, set with diamonds and fancy coloured gemstones.
Mystery clocks, with their totally transparent dials and seemingly floating hands, are a significant part of Cartier’s history. These “miracles of timekeeping”— as referred to by French fashion magazine La Gazette du Bon Ton in 1925—are the result of a collaboration between Louis Cartier and clockmaker Maurice Couët, who took inspiration from the clocks of famed illusionist Jean-eugène Robert-houdin. In those pieces, the hands are not directly linked to the movement but are instead attached to two crystal discs fitted with serrated metal edges. The discs turn the hands of the clock, activated by the movement that is housed in the base of the piece. The maison is presenting a new mystery clock with an eightday manual mechanical movement that uses natural topaz instead of rock crystal for the display, and is adorned with silver obsidian, onyx, rubies and diamonds.