Cartier

SIHH 2015: Cartier Report

 

I have the feeling to write the same words years after years but one again, Cartier was the most active and creative brand of the SIHH. Not a surprise when we know the turnover share of Cartier within Richemont but not so obvious when you have in the same group brands like JLC, IWC or Montblanc which are also very busy in different segments.

I was about to say that it was another successful year for Cartier but actually, I don't have the right to do it. Why? Simply because Cartier is unveiling a very important new collection this year, Clé, and the success of this collection will tell us if 2015 is a great year or not. Don't get me wrong. Clé has the objective to have the same impact than Ballon Bleu. Do you realize that  if we consider the Ballon Bleu line as a stand-alone brand, it would be bigger than some large and well-known brands of the industry? The aim of Clé is not to replace Ballon Bleu. Its objective is to stand by its side on the top of the hill of the success with high sales figures.

In this context, we may forget the other watches... and it would be a pity since the 2015 collection is wide and gathers some very nice nuggets from simple to highly complicated watches. I propose to discover them, at least the ones I could shoot during my appointment.

Of course, I will come back with deeper details to these watches during the year. I already know that I will see some again within a few months when the prototypes  will be presented at the Paris boutique.

Let's start with the High Horology pieces!

The Rotonde de Cartier Reversed Tourbillon, caliber 9458MC is maybe the most original watch of the High Horology Cartier segment. It is not the first time I see this type of dial lay-out since the Rotonde using the caliber 9452MC was proposing a similar time display. But this time, the watch becomes purer and the "radial dial" replaces the peripheral figures of the previous watch.

This change has two impacts, a positive and a negative one.

The negative one is that the dial looks a bit empty and that everything is gathered is a small portion of the dial (so the name of Lové used in French, lové meaning nestled in a way).

On the other hand, and it is the positive impact, the eyes are attracted by this concentration of technical details.

The watch is large (46mm) and looks really big on the wrist due to the empty areas of the dial. But a big part of its charm comes from this unbalance and the off-centered location of the hands.

The dial finishings are flawless and the radiance enhances the focus on the tourbillon.

Obviously, due to the lay-out of the caliber, the caseback is less captivating.Even if some details are visible, I wonder if a solid caseback wouldn't be the best solution.

On the wrist:

  The key technical data:

Rotonde de Cartier Reversed Tourbillon watch
Flying Tourbillon, calibre 9458 MC.
Certifi ed “Poinçon de Genève” watch.
Case: 18-carat white gold
Diameter: 46 mm
Crown: beaded crown in 18-carat white gold set
with a blue cabochon sapphire
Crystal: sapphire
Case back: sapphire
Hands: blued-steel, sword-shaped
Case thickness: 12.73 mm
Strap: black alligator skin
Clasp: double adjustable folding clasp in 18-carat white gold
Water-resistance: 3 bar (~30 metres)
Mechanical Manufacture movement
with manual winding,
calibre 9458 MC, fl ying tourbillon
Casing-up diameter: 16¾ lines, i.e. 38 mm
Total diameter: 39 mm
Thickness: 5.58 mm
Number of jewels: 19
Number of parts: 167
Balance: 21,600 vibrations / hour
Power reserve: approx. 50 hours

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The most impressive watch from Cartier this year is without any doubt the Rotonde Grande Complication Skeleton Watch.

I have to tell you: I love it.

Why? Simply because it embodies, at least from my perspective, a different movement approach, with better integrated complications and a more refined style.

Of course, the watch remains large: 45mm. But this diameter sounds reasonable taking into account the gathering of the Minute Repeater, the Flying Tourbillon and the Perpetual Calendar.

At any moment, I found this watch excessive. I appreciated from the first second I saw it its dial lay-out (check the location of Tourbillon on top which is not the case of the Minute Repeater), its legibility and the visible striking system dial side.

The finishings of the main bridge dial side which connects all the complications between them is excellent. This bridge preserves the legibility of the watch while keeping the aerial side of the skeletonized approach:

Surprise, surprise, the caliber 9406MC uses a two-level micro-rotor in order to have the right winding efficiency to power the complications:

The architecture and visual effects of the movement are gorgeous. Nothing over-decorated here, we love the movement because it is beautiful by itself. Its thickness is only 5,49mm which is an excellent performance. The consequence is that the case height is 12,6mm. Cartier managed to get a slender case thanks to a high diameter/thickness ratio. The feelings of "heavy complications" we may have on some previous complicated watches is forgetten here for our deepest pleasure.

The Grande Complication is very wearable and can be put under the sleeve without any problem:




The watch is assembled at the Geneva workshop (so the Geneva seal) and I hope to visit it one day to meet a watchmaker who works on it.



A great surprise from Cartier and for me, one of the stars of the SIHH!

The key technical data:

Rotonde de Cartier Grande Complication Skeleton watch
Minute repeater, fl ying tourbillon, perpetual calendar, skeleton,
self-winding calibre 9406 MC, certifi ed “Poinçon de Genève”
45 mm case in 950‰ platinum
Beaded crown in 950‰ platinum set with a blue sapphire cabochon
Baton-shaped, apple and hammer hands in blued steel
Black alligator skin strap
Double adjustable folding buckle in 18-carat white gold
Case thickness: 12.6 mm
Crystal and case back in sapphire
Water-resistant to 3 bar (~30 metres)
Self-winding mechanical Manufacture movement, calibre 9406 MC.
Minute repeater, fl ying tourbillon
and perpetual calendar complications, skeleton
578 parts including 47 jewels
Casing-up diameter: 15 ½ lines, i.e. 35 mm
Total diameter: 39.3 mm
Movement thickness: 5.49 mm
Frequency: 21,600 vibrations / hour
Power reserve approximately 50 hours

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The Rotonde Mysterious Double Tourbillon comes back this year in a Pink Gold version.

It is for me a great pleasure to see it again in this outfit:  the behaviour of the Double Tourbillon remains a great show!

I love the contrast between the fragile move of the Tourbillon and the feeling of size (45mm) of the case.

It is a specificity of this watch: the Tourbillon is as nice to observe caseback side:



On the wrist, the magic remains the same:

The key technical data:

Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Double Tourbillon watch,
calibre 9454 MC, certifi ed “Poinçon de Genève”
45 mm case in 18-carat pink gold
Beaded crown in 18-carat pink gold set with a sapphire cabochon
Sword-shaped hands in blued steel
Dial white, guilloché, silvered open-work grill with sunray eff ect,
black transferred Roman numerals
Brown alligator skin strap
Double adjustable folding buckle in 18-carat pink gold
Crystal and case back in sapphire
Water-resistant to 3 bar (~30 metres)
Mechanical Manufacture movement with manual winding
calibre 9454 MC
Mysterious Double Tourbillon
242 parts including 25 jewels
Casing-up diameter: 15½ lines
Total diameter: 35.5 mm
Movement thickness: 5 mm
Frequency: 21,600 vibrations / hour
Power reserve approximately 52 hours

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The Crash was created in 1967 and since then, it is considered as an iconic watch. The Crash is back and the 2015 version, available with a PT case in  a context of a LE of 67 pieces is powered by a stunning shaped movement, the caliber 9618MC. It is the reason why the biggest pleasure brought by this watch is to turn it over and to discover that the movement strickly follows the case shape.

I also consider  this watch as one of the stars of the SIHH. Its beauty, its originality, its neo-retro design (we have the feeling to be back to the end of the 60s), the feeling of weight on the wrist make it very charming and appealing. And good news: it remains legible!

 


Sensual shape, curved lines with sharp details, the Crash case is unique in the watchmaking world:




The beautiful caliber 9618MC which has the same performance than the usual skeletonized movement from Cartier (3 days of power reserve, 4hz) reinforces the beauty of the watch:








I was a bit afraid about the size (28.15 mm x 45.32 mm) since it is not a round watch but at the end, thanks to its proportion, the Crash is wearable without any problem. Two important details to point out: the narrow strap makes the case even heavier than it is due to the weight concentration on the wrist and the same strap tends to move a bit.




What a gorgeous watch, sadly only for 67 clients:




The key technical data:

Crash skeleton watch
Skeletonised bridges forming Roman numerals,
calibre 9618 MC
Case: 950/1000 platinum
Dimensions: 28.15 mm x 45.32 mm
Crown: beaded crown in 950/1000 platinum set
with a blue cabochon sapphire
Crystal: mineral glass
Case back: sapphire
Hands: blued-steel, sword-shaped
Case thickness: 9.62 mm
Strap: grey alligator skin
Clasp: double adjustable folding clasp
in 18-carat white gold
Water-resistance: 3 bar (~30 metres)
Mechanical Manufacture movement with manual winding,
calibre 9618 MC, hours and minutes complication
with skeletonised bridges forming Roman numerals
Casing-up dimensions: 17¼ lines x 9½ lines, 37.9 mm x 20.2 mm
Total dimensions: 38.5 mm x 21.2 mm
Thickness: 3.97 mm
Number of jewels: 20
Number of parts: 138
Balance: 28,800 vibrations/hour
Power reserve: approx. 3 days

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The Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon Skeleton Watch is maybe one of the most fascinating watches ever made by Cartier but it can't be considered as a big surprise. Actually, we were a bit expecting it after the presentation of the first Astrotourbillon.

Of course, the tourbillon behaviour is truly mesmerizing...




Of course, the show is also very spectacular on the caseback:




Of course the care to the details reaches a very high level of excellence...




But when I put the watch on the wrist, I was less seduced. For a main reason: it is not the size of the watch since the 47mm diameter is justified by the way the tourbillon moves. The problem is the large open areas which make the wrist hair visible on the background.




And it is pity because the Astrotourbillon Skeleton Watch becomes nicer when not worn than when on the wrist. Cartier should think about a system which would hide the hair while preserving the feeling of transparency.









The key technical data:

Rotonde de Cartier
Astrotourbillon Skeleton watch
47 mm case in 18-carat white gold
Beaded crown set with a sapphire cabochon
Sword-shaped hands in blued steel
Black alligator-skin strap
Double adjustable folding buckle in 18-carat white gold
Sapphire case back
Case thickness: 15.5 mm
Water-resistant to 3 bar (~30 metres)
Limited series of 100 numbered pieces
Calibre 9461 MC
Mechanical Manufacture movement with manual winding 9461 MC
Astrotourbillon complication with rotation of the cage in one minute
233 parts, including 23 jewels
Casing-up diameter: 16¾ lignes, i.e. 38 mm
Movement thickness: 8.89 mm
Frequency: 21,600 vibrations/hour
Power reserve of approximately 48 hours.

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As you can feel it, the Rotonde case, thanks to its more homogeneous and versatile design is becoming the fav high horology case. But not only in this segment. Even in the segment below, the Rotonde gathers the main part of the novelties. Novelties and new complication like the Annual Calendar and the chronograph (in a more simple context).

The Rotonde de Cartier Annual Calendar offers an interesting dial lay-out with the days of the week displayed on a peripheral ring. The most important data, the date, is displayed in  a large window. As you can see, the three calendar data use different systems: moving peripheral hand for the day, window for the date and moving disk for the months.

The overall design looks at the same time contemporary and classic and I was pretty seduced by this watch and its different versions:

The watch is powered by the movement 9908MC which is a 1904MC base + an add-on integrated directly on the plate of the basic movement. Everything can be set with the crown and this nice feature follows the trend seen with the Small Complications watches of the end of the last year.

Another trend is the case size control. With a diameter of 40mm, the Rotonde is a balanced watch, not too large, not too small. A good decision from Cartier to avoid the pizza plates for this kind of watches.

The key technical data:

Rotonde de Cartier Annual Calendar watch, 40 mm
Annual calendar with day indicated by a hammer-shaped hand
and month indicated by a disc, large date at 12 o’clock,
calibre 9908 MC
Case: 18-carat white gold or pink gold
Diameter: 40 mm
Crown: beaded in 18-carat white gold set
with a blue cabochon sapphire
Crystal: sapphire
Case back: sapphire
Hands: blued-steel sword-shaped
or hammer-shaped with a red tip
Case thickness: 13.26 mm
Strap: matt black alligator skin
Clasp: double adjustable folding clasp
in 18-carat white gold
Water-resistance: 3 bar (~30 metres)
Mechanical Manufacture self-winding movement,
calibre 9908 MC, annual calendar with day indicated
by a hammer-shaped hand and month indicated by a disc,
large date at 12 o’clock
Casing-up diameter: 11½ lines, i.e. 25.6 mm
Total diameter: 30 mm
Thickness: 5.9 mm
Number of jewels: 32
Number of parts: 291
Balance: 28,800 vibrations/hour
Power reserve: approx. 48 hours

********************

I was less convinced by the Chronograph version. It is dificult to explain why. For me, it is mainly due to an aesthetic issue. I find that something is not working on the dial. Maybe the mix between the roman figures and the arabic ones of the subdials.Or the Breguet hands?

But I don't want to be unfair with this watch which has some strong assets: it is available in SS making its price affordable. Moreover, it also uses the 40mm case and its overall design looks very balanced.

The blue dial version is much more appealing but I didn't have the same crush than with the Small Complication watch. Of course, the blue dial is only for the WG version:

Obviously, the movement which powers the Rotonde Chronograph is the 1904-CH... and I much prefer it in the context of the Tank MC!










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The Tortue case was these last years more used for complicated watches than for simple ones.

Cartier took an excellent decision, expected from the makets, to enlarge the simple Tortue of the catalogue and to make it flat!

For me, the Tortue case has to be as flat as possibile. And this new version meets my expectation.

On the wrist, the Tortue embodies a certain idea of the elegance which is not spoiled by the enlarged case when compared with the medium size currently available in the catalogue:








The watch is powered by the Caliber 430MC. I will bring you the technical data later.







******************

Another good surprise was the All Black versions of the Caliber Diver. I'm not a fan of this type of watch but this dark atmosphere works very well in the context of the Diver. It is a proof of the successful design of the Diver.















********************

We will have opportunities during the year to come back and to discuss about the Clé collection. As I said in the first sentences of the report, Clé is a very important launch for Cartier. Actually, this new collection uses some design tricks used with Ballon Bleu: a sophisticated case even if the Clé one is more original, an unusual crown system, the typical Cartier dial... but Clé has its own personality!

The point I would like to highlight is the blue figures which decorate the dial. It is a great idea and they create a wonderful combo with the hands.

Clé means key in French. This name was chosen due to the crown which works like a key in a way. I will come back to this system with further explanations. So Clé is not only a new collection, it is also a new time setting experience!

The case was designed with a lot of care. It is at the same time very round but with an oval outline. It is curved with some sensual lines.

3 sizes will be available from April: 40mm (as pictured on the report), 31mm and 35mm.

You may think that this watch also uses the in-house caliber 1904MC. And... if so, you would be wrong because the Clé watches uses a brand new in-house caliber the 1847MC. It is easy to understand the reference: it is the date of the fundation of the company (what underlines the importance of this new collection!).

Actually this caliber uses a rapid barrel (the 1904 MC has two barrels). The power reserve is 42 hours (I would have preferred a larger one) but the winding efficiency of the 1847MC is high. The date is semi-instantaneous.

You will notice the unusual balance bridge:

The 40mm version with bracelet:

And the 40mm version with a strap.

I tend to prefer the strap version since it makes the case curves clearer.

Thanks to the curves of the lugs, the 40mm version of Clé can be worn with a lot of comfort. A very versatile watch which manages to keep the Cartier touch (the crown ornament, the roman figures etc...).

Several pictures of the Pink Gold version:

Once again, I will come back to Clé later because the official launch in the boutiques will come very soon. So my best whish for Cartier for 2015 is that this new collection meets the success it deserves.

The report is over now. I would have liked to also present you jewelry watches but I hope to be able to see them during the next months.

As you can see, the 2015 collection was large and encompassing several price ranges. From Clé to the Grande Complication without forgetting the new versions of the Diver and of the Tortue, Cartier gave another proof of its potential and creativity.

Thanks to the Cartier team for the warm welcome.

Fr.Xavier


This message has been edited by foversta on 2015-01-25 11:30:58

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