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Cartier Connections part 6: Of Feathers and Hammers - Cartier ID TWO
What is the connection between the three people shown and the Cartier ID TWO watch?
Head of the Cartier “Movement Creation” Department
Galileo theorised that objects would accelerate in the same way under the effect of gravity without the confounding air resistance.
Commander Scott demonstrated during a moon-walk that a hammer and a feather dropped at the same time in an "air-less" moon environment.
Cartier demonstrates that same principle on Earth with the Cartier ID TWO watch.
Cartier introduced “proof-of-concept” watches (Not for Sale) from the Cartier ID programme. ID stands for “Innovation and Development” or “IDeas”. These are unique pieces intended to test a vision or indicate a direction. Cartier ID ONE was reported in part 5 of this Cartier Connections series (reference link below).
It featured their first adjustment-free watch and carbon crystal tourbillon. The tourbillon was first proposed by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1795 and patented in 1801; as a soluton against the effects of gravity on a balance wheel.
Recently, Cartier has focused on more substantial improvements in developing watches’ resistance to external conditions such as temperature, magnetism and shocks. Current COSC chronometric standards allows running tolerances of -4/+6 seconds per day.
In their secret lair, Switzerland’s master watchmakers are working towards the most extreme accuracy. Thus, in the heart of the Cartier Manufacture, the ID Section uses new technologies and novel materials with tolerances down to a thousandth of a millimeter.
Mechanical engineering is about energy management and efficiency. A watch movement only uses a small percentage of its energy productively. Friction, air resistance and all kinds of losses sap the available power. An appalling 75% of the energy supplied by the mainspring is wasted !
Following on from Cartier ID ONE, Cartier developed the Cartier ID TWO, a second concept watch to explore improving the efficiency of a watch movement.
The objectives were:
Increasing stored energy by a third.
Reducing energy consumption by half.
Maintain a constant volume of movement.
Despite the simplicity of concept, this revolutionary solution brought extreme technical difficulties. To avoid leaks, the engineers had to design two-part case, without any screws. The seals between the case block and the back, as well as those for the setting crown were made more airtight by the addition of nanoparticles.
For the first time in watchmaking history, the springs providing energy to the watch movement have been made not in metal, but in glass microfibre, giving a considerable increase in power.
DRIE technology (Deep Reactive Ion Etching) allows micromechanical components to be made with extreme precision (to the nearest micron) and lends itself particularly well to carbon crystal.
4) Differential gearing
Cartier ID Two reuses the solution explored in Cartier ID One: components made using DRIE technologies, oscillator and escapement bearing in carbon crystal, and pivot axes in black ADLC-coated titanium.
A mix of carbon and hydrogen, the ADLC coating (Amorphous Diamond Like Carbon) covers the components with a fine black protective layer unaffected by wear, self-lubricating, and highly shock-resistant. A technique used in aerospace and armament industries.
Case: Rotonde de cartier 47 mm, niobium / titanium.
Crown: heptagonal, set with a faceted black spinel.
Strap: alligator skin.
Buckle: adjustable folding buckle in 18-carat white gold.
Water-resistance: 30 metres / 100 feet / 3 bars.
Mechanical movement with manual winding, Calibre 9460 MC.
Escapement: adjustment-free and lubrication-free.
Tourbillon: with shaft at the centre of the movement.
Tourbillon bridges, pallets and escapement wheel in carbon crystal.
Escapement pivots: tungsten carbide.
Number of jewels: 17.
Diameter: 40.1 mm.
Thickness: 9 mm.
Number of components: 195.
Frequency: 3 Hz, 21,600 vibrations / hour.
Cartier Connections series [CLICK to re-direct]
Cartier Connections part 1: The Sheikh and The Dachshund
Cartier Connections part 2: Of Wings and Skeletons
Cartier Connections part 3: Tokyo to Paris and back
Cartier Connections part 4: A Tale of Two Doggies (Cartier Tank MC)
Cartier Connections part 5: Carbon Crystal Dreams and Reality
Cartier Connections part 6: Of Feathers and Hammers - Cartier ID TWO
Cartier Connections part 6: Of Feathers and Hammers - Cartier ID TWO
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