MTF
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SIHH 2014 Four New Ballon de Cartier watches

Cartier Riding a Shooting Star - Ballon de Cartier watches

From fine watchmaking to the arts, from high jewellery to innovation, the Ballon de Cartier watches have taken something from all of Cartier’s watchmaking departments to manifest as four new creations in the collection, illustrating the Maison’s excellence in all areas of watchmaking: the Ballon Bleu de Cartier Flying Tourbillon enamel watch with 9452 MC movement, certified “Poinçon de Genève”; the Ballon Bleu de Cartier floral marquetry parrot watch; the Ballon Bleu de Cartier extra-flat watch; and finally the Ballon Blanc de Cartier, a jewellery watch that is both Day and Night.

Ballon de Cartier watches have been a stellar success since the first model was launched in 2007. The current Mrs MTF even has one since they finally introduced a practical steel model on leather strap last year. We have often asked why. Indeed, commercial success is a vexing puzzle amongst the plethora of watches available. Is it the roundness of its case, curved both on top and underneath? Certainly the Ballon Bleu de Cartier is very tactile; one cannot help but caress it when in the hand.

Maybe it is the distinctive Cartier design code that attracts us? Is it the guilloché of the dial and its sword-shaped hands combined with solid-gold links? Could it be the rail-track minute circle and the Roman numerals with their outline indented by the curve of the crown? The generous rounded crystal that amplifies the time display? Or the blue bubble of the crown, set with a sapphire cabochon and protected by a metal arch, the enigmatic azure entry-way to another world?

Ballon Bleu de Cartier
42 mm case in 18-carat yellow gold
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, date
Fluted crown in 18-carat yellow gold set with a blue sapphire cabochon
Lacquered, silvered, guilloché and opaline dial, black Roman numerals, calendar aperture at 3 o’clock
Sword-shaped hands in blued steel
Sapphire crystal
Bracelet in 18-carat yellow gold
Safety clasp in 18-carat yellow gold
Self-winding movement, Cartier calibre 049
Water-resistant to 30 m/100 ft

Before we indulge in the new Ballon de Cartier watches from SIHH 2014, let's be distracted by a concept watch that we can never buy.

Cartier ID one Concept watch
46 mm case in niobium-titanium
Sapphire crystal and case back
Fabric bracelet
Adjustable folding buckle in 18-carat white gold
Self-winding Cartier Manufacture mechanical movement, requiring no adjustment.
Diameter: 16½ lines, 36.8 mm
Thickness: 6.12 mm
Number of jewels: 17
Number of parts: 177
Pallets and escapement wheel: in carbon crystal, without jewel pallet-stones
Double-barrel with a power reserve of approximately 52 hours
Movement-blanks coated with ADLC (Amorphous Diamond-Like Carbon) and decorated with Côtes de Genève
Balance spring in Zerodur®*, with no regulator
Monobloc balance in carbon crystal, 28,000 vibrations/hour
Oscillating weight in tungsten carbide with ADLC coating
This concept watch is not available for purchase.
*The Zerodur® balance spring is in development. The Zerodur® brand does not belong to Cartier.

The case shape was both enchanting and daring. It was so strong that it inspired the designers in the innovation laboratory of the Cartier fine watchmaking manufacture to slip a few challenges into it – and house the mechanism of Cartier’s first concept watch: ID One, a watch adjusted for eternity!  So it was that in 2009, taking its degree of inventiveness and research to another level, Cartier revealed ID One. ID means Innovation & Development. ID as in Ideas...

A watch that is not just a watch, but so much more. It is a concept watch, a unique piece intended to express a vision, to indicate a direction. A direction that, according to Cartier, should be taken by watchmaking, which for two centuries has done little more than reinterpret old answers to the challenge represented by ultra-precision. Crafted and assembled according to an innovative design which called for cutting edge materials and technology, the Cartier ID One concept watch was designed to require no adjustment during its entire existence.

Now, we embark upon an exploration of the new Ballon de Cartier watches from SIHH 2014:

Ballon Bleu de Cartier Flying Tourbillon enamel watch

39 mm case in white gold
Fluted crown in 18-carat white gold set with a blue sapphire cabochon
Guilloché dial coated with translucent blue enamel, satin-finish cartouche, black minute circle on a sunray-effect base
Bezel in 18-carat white gold.
Steel sword-shaped hands
Sapphire crystal and case back
Strap in dark-blue alligator skin
Double adjustable folding clasp in 18-carat white gold
Water-resistant to 30 m/100 ft
Manufacture mechanical movement with manual winding, calibre 9452 MC, certified “Poinçon de Genève”, flying tourbillon with seconds indicated by the C-shaped tourbillon carriage
Casing-up diameter: 10¾ lines, 24.5 mm
Total diameter: 24.9 mm
Thickness: 4.5 mm (5.45 mm with tourbillon)
Number of jewels: 19
Number of parts: 142
Balance: 21,600 vibrations/hour
Power reserve: approx. 50 hours
Finish: Côtes de Genève

It all started with a Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch. This watch was the first to be equipped with the new generation of Cartier fine watchmaking movements. Since 2008, a Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch with a flying tourbillon calibre had only existed as a 46mm diameter watch that may have been intimidating for the smaller wrist.

With the new 39 mm case, it is the zenith of elegance. The new version sports blue flinqué enamel dial, the Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch does what it says on the case: matching its name to its colour.

The Ballon Bleu de Cartier Flying Tourbillon enamel watch is limited to a 100 piece series in white gold with an exceptional dial in deep-blue enamel. Following in the tradition of Cartier clocks with enamel dials, which were first offered to clients in 1909, this dial is made using a rare technique. First, the metal base of the dial is guillochéd with a radiating motif of intersecting arcs known as flinqué, before being covered with translucent enamel.

With the flinqué technique, the enamel both reveals and protects the precious metal base. The enamel forcefully highlights the guilloché-work and intensifies the shimmering reflections inherent to this technique. Flinqué enamelling may be used on its own, but also as a backdrop for other decorations such as miniature painting. Moreover, it provides scope for an exceptional play on colours. At the crossroads between tradition and the modern era, this meticulous work on the metal base creates a powerful geometrical effect.

The enamel starts out as powder, the texture, composition and colour of which must be carefully chosen to ensure an even and pleasing appearance after firing. Control of the temperature during firing affects the entire process. Any error at this stage would irreparably spoil the dial. Unfit for use, it would have to be thrown away. This phase is all the more delicate because the dial has a large opening through which the flying tourbillon carriage is visible. Once it has cooled down, the dial displays a radiant interplay of solid and luminosity, between the transparency of the layer of enamel, the texture of the guilloché and the refinement its blue hue.

In its new size, the Ballon Bleu de Cartier Flying Tourbillon watch is defined by elegance. Its dimensions will appeal to watch lovers looking for a compact watch with a modern tourbillon and which, in addition to its soft lines, is characterised by great comfort. An exercise in harmony and proportion, today the case has a thickness of no more than 11.4 mm. The Ballon Bleu de Cartier 39 mm watch and its calibre 9452 MC bear the stamp of the “Poinçon de Genève”. Assembled and adjusted in the Cartier workshops in the heart of Geneva, the movement is designed and decorated according to this most demanding of standards.

Ballon Bleu de Cartier floral-marquetry parrot watch
42 mm case in rhodium-plated 18-carat white gold set with 124 round diamonds totalling 1.80 carats
Fluted crown set with a blue sapphire cabochon
Dial in rhodium-plated 18-carat white gold and 18-carat pink gold with floral marquetry and onyx, emerald eye, parrot motif
Bracelet in white semi-matt alligator skin
18 mm double adjustable folding buckle in rhodium-plated 18-carat white gold set with 43 diamonds totalling 0.42 carats
Self-winding mechanical movement, Cartier calibre 049
Water-resistant to 30 m/100 ft
Limited edition of 20 pieces.

When you first see this watch, it is obviously a pretty timepiece. The case shape is familiar and now a favourite Cartier icon that encourages tactile response. The colours are vibrant and when you discover the dial is a product of marquetry technique, the artistry is sharply brought to the fore. The colours are too bright for dyed wood or straw.......

Since Cartier decided to set up the Haute Horlogerie division, they have tried new techniques in both future technology and ancient skills to explore the possibilities of craftsmanship. On one hand, they are pushing the frontiers of mechanical engineering and on the other hand, they are reviving forgotten decorative arts including wood and straw marquetry. We have seen Cartier build up a formidable collection of exquisite timepieces in their Métiers d’Art series.

A key phrase at Cartier is "Shaking up tradition with creativity and innovation while reviving rare and forgotten crafts".
To this end, Cartier has ventured into a new craft in watchmaking: floral marquetry, to bring vivid colour and life to the dial of this Ballon Bleu de Cartier with a parrot motif. It is a marvel how they preserved the evanescent beauty of flowers but re-purposed with artistic flair into another thing of beauty - the parrot. The juxtaposition of precious gems and delicate flower petals relied on a combined effort from two crafts never before employed in watchmaking: gem-setting and floral-marquetry.

There is an explosion of colour that symbolises the raucous spirit of parrots: there is blue and orange-yellow of plumage, the deep black of the beak, the emerald green of the eye and the sparkling white diamonds in the background of the dial and on the crown. Never has a Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch contained such a palette of colours!  Making the ephemeral eternal takes time. A multitude of minute operations follow one after the other: the flower petals are gathered and coloured, each metal is then stuck onto a thin piece of wood and cut into the desired shape using a marquetry saw. Thus transformed, they become feathers and plumage, a precious, noble material that is vibrant, sensual and fragile, with a volume and texture that contrast with the shine of the onyx beak and emerald eye. The grey and black feathers surrounding the eye are created one by one with miniature painting.

Ballon Bleu de Cartier extra-flat

40 mm case in pink gold
6.90 mm thickness
Grey flinqué dial
Hands in pink-gold-plated steel
Sapphire crystal
Strap in grey alligator skin
Ardillon buckle
Manufacture movement with manual winding, calibre 430 MC
Water-resistant to 30 m/100 ft
Also exists in pink gold with a white flinqué dial as well as in diamond-set versions in white or pink gold

The desire for a Ballon Bleu de Cartier extra-flat watch is to have decided that elegance is a lifestyle choice, a suave and sophisticated attitude, a subtle kind of luxury. To choose the Ballon Bleu de Cartier extra-flat watch is to know that less is more and appreciate the restrained style of the classic versions in pink gold with a grey or white flinqué dial, new proportions offering 40 mm of aesthetic refinement, or the personal extravagance of the diamond-set versions with a pink- or white-gold case. The case is only 6.9 mm high and contains one of the thinnest movements with manual winding.

Ballon Blanc de Cartier watch

30 mm case and bracelet in rhodium-plated 18-carat white gold set with diamonds totalling 9.35 carats
Crown set with a diamond of 0.20 carats
Flinqué dial in mother-of-pearl
Sword-shaped hands in blued steel
Sapphire crystal
Quartz movement, Cartier calibre 056
Water-resistant to 30m/100ft

With familial resemblance and yet slightly different, the Ballon Blanc de Cartier watch is a Will-of-the Wisp that slipped into the Cartier workshops one night when the moon was full and melded into the case of a Ballon de Cartier watch. A watch that unites the Maison’s jewellery and watchmaking prowess to manifest as a jewellery watch: precious, feminine and delicate, with a touch of naughtiness. Light as a moonbeam, it possesses a sophisticated 'mien' and attitude. 
 

Ballon Blanc de Cartier watch

24 mm case in 18-carat pink gold
set with diamonds totalling 0.70 carats
Crown set with a diamond of 0.20 carats
Flinqué dial in mother-of-pearl
Sword-shaped hands in blued steel
Sapphire crystal
Bracelet in 18-carat pink gold
Quartz movement, Cartier calibre 056
Water-resistant to 30 m/100 ft

The case still retains its tactile pebble shape, like a pebble. With its mother-of-pearl flinqué dial and blued-steel sword-shaped hands, the watch radiates Ballon de Cartier signature style. Yet the little detour made by the Roman numerals and rail-track minute circle at four o’clock makes room for the flourish of a single assertive diamond. The bracelet, consisting of five rows of perfect diamond-set or smooth beads, has the allure of a rivière.

Conclusion

Cartier had a strong showing at SIHH 2014 with mechanical innovation and aesthetic flair. With the excitement over the provocative Calibre de Cartier Diver and the novel Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire , many may have been distracted from Ballon de Cartier Collection . I hope this focused report brings them back to the fore in the Purists community.

Regards,

MTF

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