Jacqueline Tsang Editor-in-chief of Tatler Hong Kong
The Masse Mystérieuse from Cartier is aptly named because the watch is absolutely mindboggling. As visually arresting as the semitransparent timepiece is, with a skeletonised winding rotor, it’s the mechanics that have watch lovers awestruck. The brand has managed to build the 9801 MC automatic movement into the rotor (also known as oscillating mass, hence the name), and moving the watch also winds it by virtue of the rotor swinging around a central gear and winding train. Meanwhile, the hour track cleverly obscures the sapphire disks that allow the crown to “invisibly” set the hour and minute hands. Honestly, don’t even try to understand it; just enjoy the magic.