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Cartier - Ronde Louis Cartier Filigree
Created in the new Maison des Metiers d'Art on site at La Chaux-de-Fonds, the Ronde Louis Cartier Filigree watch reinvents the centuries-old technique of filigree using a figurative, precious approach. A creative heritage method that is testament to Cartier's mission to perpetuate forgotten crafts and expertise.
As diaphanous as lace, the filigree is a technique of goldsmithing that uses gold or silver wires soldered together in order to create an openwork grid with a desired motif.
For Cartier, the challenge consisted not only in adapting it to the restrained dimensions of a watch case but also elevating this craft by opting for a very precious selection of jewellery materials such as gold, platinum and diamonds.
The craftsmen of the Maison des Metiers d'Art worked with beaten gold and platinum micro-wires that required specific equipment specially created on site. Twisted, rolled, curled and cut into little rings, these wires were assembled using the «openwork» filigree technique that allows the elements to be attached on the sides but not to the base.
Over a month of work was required to create this lacework watch that is home to a pair of panthers whose black-lacquer-spotted coats are literally woven from fine filigree elements of gold and platinum set with diamonds. This delicate feline tête-a-tête is set against the background of a starry sky and surrounded by a middle pave-set with diamonds, which is partly covered by the motif.
The 42 mm case in 18-carat yellow gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds houses a
mechanical movement with manual winding.The Ronde Louis Cartier Filigree watch is a limited serie of 20 numbered pieces.
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Horology and Astronomy - Cosmology on the wrist
Was there ever a more primal source of fascination than the celestial dome? Since the beginning of Mankind, the passage from day to night with the Sun giving way to the Moon, plus a full array of stars and constellations, had enabled humans to find some logic in the apparent chaos of the ethereal, including through establishing cycles of time characterized by the changes of the seasons, the tides and the phases of the Moon. The urge to master the space-time environment inspired the first calendars of Antiquity, based on the apparent cyclical movement of the heavenly bodies.
If astronomy is the discipline that studies the working principles of our solar system, horology is the art of measuring time. The evident and historical connection between the two led the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie - with the contribution of noted historians Dominique Flechon and Gregory Gardinetti - to promote an itinerant exhibition titled "Horology, a Child of Astronomy". After being held at SalonQP in London and Belles Montres in Paris, the exhibition was staged at the Palexpo during the 25th edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie - and one of the show's major trends (alongside the race to ultra-thinness and the Metiers d'Art craze) was precisely related to astronomical indications, with several prominent models highlighting the Earth, the Moon, the Sun and the cosmos.
Milestones in Celestial Displays
Two historical pieces particularly stand out in the "Horology, a Child of Astronomy" exhibition and the corresponding book. Dated circa 1600 BC and named after the part of Germany near where it was found in 1999, the Nebra Sky Disc is the oldest known depiction of the sky and features 32 heavenly bodies - among them the Sun, a crescent Moon and the Pleiades constellation - in gold on a bronze 32-centimeter disc. It is the father of all moon-phase displays.
The enigmatic Antikythera Mechanism dates from the second half of the second century BC (between 150 and 100 BC) and is the oldest surviving geared machine in the world, used to represent the cosmos and perform both astronomical and calendar-related calculations. It combines a planetarium, a zodiac and several calendars - and inspired the advent of the Hublot Antikythera a couple of years ago.
The Earth
The alternation of daylight and darkness caused by the Earth's rotation on its axis was the basic unit for tracking time in every ancient civilization. The lunisolar calendar was reformed in 1582 under Pope Gregory XIII, leading to the Gregorian calendar now used all over the world. In 1884, the Earth was divided into twenty-four time zones.
Several star timepieces at the SIHH featured perpetual calendars or worldtimers. The Montblanc Meisterstuck Heritage Perpetual Calendar, with its highly attractive price point and classic looks, embodied the brand's new positioning under the leadership of new CEO Jerôme Lambert. The Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month was the star of IWC's renewed diver collection, boasting a digital date/month display water-resistant to 100 meters. And the Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendar watch boasts a flying tourbillon surrounded by a multi-tier circular display for the perpetual calendar powered by a mechanism that is almost entirely free from the typical levers and springs. The most stunning worldtimer seen at the SIHH was the new platinum version of Greubel Forsey's GMT, crowned by a spectacular three-dimensional globe accompanying an inclined 24-second tourbillon.
The Moon
The Earth's satellite has always had a significant cultural and scientific influence; its prominence in the night sky provided early Man with a way of measuring time and developing calendars based on moon phases. The actual duration of the Moon's revolution around the Earth is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds - but is shown as 29 or 29.5 days on conventional dials. The difference adds up to a whole day every three years, requiring manual adjustment of the Moon display mechanism; on more accurate timepieces, correction is only required every 122 years and 46 days, whereas for highly exceptional models the period may be extend to more than 1,000 years.
On the new Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase from A. Lange & Söhne, each lunation is indicated with an accuracy of 99.9978 per cent thanks to a seven-gear transmission and, assuming the watch runs continuously, the display only needs to be corrected by one day every 122.6 years - but it can be adjusted at any time by using the pushpiece embedded in the case flank between 7 and 8 o'clock. The incredibly detailed celestial disc features two textured golden moons and 382 laser-cut gold stars (the smallest one measuring just 0.07mm) enhanced by a patented coating process that gives them a remarkable lifelike appearance.
The highly original Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch uses its tourbillon (representing the shining Moon) and a moving Lapis Lazuli disc to cover the tourbillon and hence display the moon phase on demand; it also features a second timezone display.
The Sun
Man was first able to measure the flow of time by using the Sun and its positions; the earliest means to measure passing time were gnomons, the ancestors of the sundial. One full orbit of the Earth around the Sun defines the cycle of the seasons. Depending on the season and due to the elliptical orbit of the Earth around the Sun, solar time is some fifteen minutes ahead of or behind mean time shown on clocks and watches - a discrepancy calculated by timepieces featuring the so-called equation of time.
Cartier reinvented its Rotonde de Cartier Day & Night watch, based on a disc highlighted by the Sun and the Moon that rotates over the course of 12 hours, while a retrograde hand denotes the phase of the Moon in the form of a lunar crescent. Greubel Forsey's exceptional Quantieme Perpetuel a Equation calculates solstices and equinoxes alongside a 24-second inclined tourbillon; it features an indicator of the periods when the date should not be adjusted and a new system displaying the moments when solar time and mean time meet up: two superimposed transparent discs reveal the points of intersection as well as showing the equinoxes and solstices, thus providing a clearer indication of the Earth's irregular elliptical orbit around the sun.
The Cosmos
Man has always sought to explain the laws that govern the universe - meaning the totality of galaxies evolving in space and time. Astronomy is the oldest science and inspired many ultra-complicated clocks reproducing a planetary through the depiction of the movement of the planets around the Sun.
A. Lange & Söhne's Richard Lange Perpetual Calendar "Terraluna" has a perpetual calendar on four jumping displays on the regulator-type dial, but on the case back you can see a patent-pending orbital moon-phase display on a disc featuring more than 2,000 micro-stars. The Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Planetarium Poetic Complication takes the chart of the heavenly bodies even further: it features a three-dimensional cosmic dance on the dial, with each of the planets visible from Earth represented on the watch and their rotation around the Sun occurring in real time (Mercury goes around the dial in 88 days; Saturn takes 29 years). The planet module was designed by Christian van der Klaauw, an authority in movements featuring astronomical indications.
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Cartier - Calibre de Cartier Diver watch
Launched in 2010, the Calibre de Cartier watch features powerful lines, rugged case
and original architecture. Its dial boldly reinterprets the Maison's design codes, such as Roman numerals and a flanged bezel. In 2014, this Manufacture watch opens a new chapter with a diving version: the Calibre de Cartier Diver. An unmistakeably masculine watch for both everyday wear and extreme conditions, it meets the challenge of combining Cartier style with the technical requirements of ISO 6425. This norm, which controls the "Diver's Watch" label, lays down eight criteria of reliability and imposes a series of extremely rigorous tests.
Unidirectional turning bezel
To prevent any accidental rotation or alteration of the dive-time indication, the bezel turns in one direction only. It has been designed with 120 notches (40 teeth and 3 points) to enable adjustment to a half-minute, with a clear sound signal during its rotation. For greater visibility, the markers signalling each 5 minute period are clearly indicated.
Display in the dark
The Calibre de Cartier Diver can be clearly read deep below the surface due to the superluminova applied to its dive-time indicators, hour and minute hands, pre-selection device and small seconds counter.
Water-resistant to 300 metres
When underwater, diving watches can be subjected to very high pressures and extreme conditions (salt water, thermal shock, etc.). For protection, the Calibre de Cartier Diver is fitted with a thick crystal, a screw back, oversized seals and a screw-in crown that ensure water-resistance to 300 metres. The watch has demonstrated its resistance to salt water after immersion in a solution of sodium chloride (30g/l) at 18°C - 25°C for 24 hours. Furthermore, after spending 50 hours at a depth of 30 centimetres at 18°C - 25°C, it continues to function perfectly under water.
The Manufacture's watchmakers have produced an authentic diver's watch, without sacrificing everyday comfort on the wrist, in a balanced case measuring just 11 mm in thickness. It offers a contrast of satin and polished finishes, a turning bezel coated with ADLC and bordered with fluting that recalls the interior of the bezel of the Calibre de Cartier watch. In the all-steel or pink gold versions on a black rubber strap.
The movement 1904 MC
Introduced in 2010, the 1904 MC was the first self-winding movement to be developed and assembled by Cartier's watchmakers. Its highly symbolic name recalls the pioneering spirit of Louis Cartier who, in 1904, created one of the very first modern wristwatches for his friend, the pilot Alberto Santos-Dumont. More than a century later, the 1904 MC movement is writing a new chapter in Cartier watchmaking.
This 11 ½ ligne calibre has been designed to maintain perfect chronometric stability thanks to a double barrel that guarantees excellent constancy of the mainspring torque over a long period. Fitted with a fine regulating system and a stop-second mechanism, it has been conceived to enable the Manufacture to perfectly adjust its chronometry, guaranteeing that it runs with great precision. The rotor of the 1904 MC calibre is mounted on a central ceramic ball-bearing that gives it excellent shock-resistance and ensures its durability. An even more inventive development is a ratchet system of bidirectional winding that makes the watch quicker and more comfortable to wind.
The care lavished on the finishes of the calibre 1904 MC demonstrates Cartier's extremely high standards when creating a movement to power a watch intended for professional use and everyday wear.
The Calibre de Cartier Diver watch is available in all-steel or pink gold versions on a black rubber strap.
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Cartier - Frog watch
The clip brooch whose flowering relief blooms on the glass of the dial can also be worn by itself. The case and the brooch are in 18-carat rhodium-plated pink gold. The frog, also in pink gold, is set with brilliant-cut diamonds and moonstones. Its eyes are set with emeralds.
The Lotus flowers are made of moonstone and are set with pink sapphires. Lastly, the dial is in 18-carat white gold set with sapphires and brilliant-cut diamonds and it is decorated with a miniature painting in enamel.
Numbered edition limited to 40 pieces.
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Bestsellers - Watch Sales in Japan and France
GMT #26 - Winter 2011-2012
Every quarter, GMT's new column analyses the best sales that have taken place in the emblematic markets, according to their most prominent retailers. Journalists Vincent Daveau in France and Hiroyuki Suzuki in Japan conducted the survey. Read here the first article in the series, covering Italy, Singapore and the USA.
IN JAPAN
In the wake of the earthquake in March 2011, the Japanese market trend changed. During the lingering recession, consumption had been polarised around entry models priced at 100,000 to 300,000 yen and expensive models priced around 10 million yen; whereas after the earthquake, a demand emerged for medium-priced models worth around 1 million yen. According to the leading department store "Isetan," the bestselling price ranges from September to November 2011 were 0.6-0.7 million yen and 1-1.5 million yen. Rolex Explorer and IWC Portofino, which are the latest models with traditional, timeless designs, are popular. Cost performance is important, but products that are merely low-priced do not sell well. Customers now pay a great deal of attention to the contents that determine prices, such as details and finishes. In addition, an increasing number of customers prefer thin, compact models. For example, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic is enjoying renewed popularity.
According to "The Hourglass Ginza," which handles extremely expensive products, wealthy customers, who had purchased complex watches priced around 20 million yen, have refrained from purchasing since the earthquake disaster, while young customers have started to demand models such as Ref. 5196 by Patek Philippe, etc. In particular, Ref. 5196 and Ref. 5119 fitted with Cal. 215 are out of stock nationwide. In Japan, A. Lange & Söhne is still popular, and the supply from Switzerland was delayed from September to November. As far as the Lange 1 and Saxonia Annual Calendar are concerned, demand exceeds supply.
IN FRANCE
Watch sales in France are fairly considerable and certain well-known brands place this particular country in third position on the world watch market chessboard, after the United States and Hong Kong. While there are no real means of verifying this information, since figures have become practically secret with the advent of the big luxury groups, it is nonetheless possible to obtain an overview of the best sales and the growth of brands in France.
All the companies surveyed naturally said that they achieved a considerable proportion of their sales among tourists. While big department stores claim scores of around 70 per cent of their watch sales achieved with a mainly Asian clientele, and boutiques in the south of France with visitors from Eastern European countries, others in more outlying areas still focus a large part of their success on a clientele that is primarily national. Whatever the region and once the layer of foreign sales is removed, the market appears quite classic and uniform where consumption is concerned.
Consequently, department stores like Printemps Haussmann, and retailers such as Maier in Lyon and Les Montres in Paris are seeing continued healthy sales to French customers of stainless steel models from the Rolex sports collections (Submariner - GMT-Master - Explorer). The House of Verhoeven in Dunkerque also ranks the brand first, with Cartier second - a position which, overall and in terms of both volume and value, is consistent with that published by other companies surveyed, inasmuch as the brand is represented.
In the realm of department stores, Omega follows hot on the heels of Rolex with very high figures, principally supported by Asian purchases, as the French show greater interest in more "Vintage" models, such as the enduring Speedmaster. In absolute terms, and all shops combined, the Reverso models, supported by the media hype linked to the model's 80-year history, have enabled Jaeger- LeCoultre to retain one of the top places in French hearts. Overall, IWC, which underwent a slump for a time in this country, is giving every appearance of being of a rapidly growing brand with very high scores among French nationals, mainly in the capital. We also noted a great breakthrough, albeit recent, and to be confirmed by its distributors, of Pequignet with its "flagship product": the Rue Royale watch.
Women still love Chanel, but certain retailers emphasised a slight decline in sales at the end of this year. Contrary to this trend, amid the distribution maelstrom and doubtless due to the current economic climate, brands such as Longines, Zenith, TAG Heuer, Oris and Frederique Constant, with their "retro-futuristic" or chic classical collections. have made - at least according to the companies that distribute them - a real breakthrough among French urban dwellers looking for products off ering excellent value for money.
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Cartier - Bernard Fornas, interview
GMT "Spring-summer 2009 - # 19"
Did the SIHH go as you expected?
As you know, a very good SIHH can turn out to be part of a very bad year, and vice versa. What really interests me in this trade show is the reaction to our new releases. In a global company such as ours with a worldwide presence, the issues are not the same as when you are working with agents. The main point for us is to confirm that our products are well accepted and well positioned. Such is indeed the case, so I can say I was pleasantly surprised.
Cartier presented 11 new Haute Horlogerie watches, and even more Haute Joaillerie creations - not to mention countless variations on more affordable models: does that mean the brand is struggling to define its focus?
Our strategy has always been extremely clear-cut. Cartier is a world leader in the field of jewellery and Haute Joaillerie watches, and I decided two years ago to accelerate the pace in Haute Horlogerie in order to become one of the major players in this sector. This was simply not possible before, because we did not have enough movements. Our international visibility was well ahead of our production capacity. We therefore decided to invest in acquiring the means to rise to the very peak of the men's watch pyramid. As far as the core segment is concerned, don't forget we are the world's second largest watch producer behind Rolex, and our offer is naturally proportionate to our size.
Does the Richemont Group takeover of the Manufacture Roger Dubuis open up new perspectives for you?
We now have two strings to our bow in the area of Haute Horlogerie: on the one hand, the models bearing the Poinçon de Geneve quality hallmark which do indeed come from our workshop in this new Manufacture; and on the other hand, the Haute Horlogerie models created on our site in La Chaux-de-Fonds, which has an over 1,000- b workforce and is responsible for 8 of the new releases you mentioned earlier. We presented only three Haute Horlogerie models at last year's SIHH, this year the figure has risen to 11 and you can expect plenty more next year. Cartier is going to become an inescapable player in the field of Haute Horlogerie.
Which of these new models do you feel best represents the Cartier spirit?
No single watch can sum up the Cartier spirit. While Ballon Bleu was the greatest launch ever made, our Baignoire watch is doubtless the most feminine watch on the planet. Among the new Haute Horlogerie models, I really like the Tank Americaine Tourbillon, as well as the Rotonde Chronographe Central, which repre- sents an unprecedented innovation. As far as the Haute Joaillerie watch models are concerned, it's impossible to choose between them, just as you find all your children equally beautiful!
What is the watchword for the new financial year starting in April?
Continuity. The creativity and the dynamism of Cartier go hand in hand with serenity. Our company prepared for the worst when everything was going well. We are number one in China, in Russia, the Middle East, and in the nations composing the CIS. Our past and current investments in these emerging countries enable us to compensate for the slow-down on traditional markets such as the USA and Japan. We are indeed continuing to open boutiques on these new markets in order to reinforce our positions. This company is run with a long-term vision. We don't want to rely on publicity stunts to help sell the brand, nor to highlight celebrities whose fame is by definition fleeting… For us, Cartier is the star and everything we do is governed by a determination to make Cartier endure forever.
No one had foreseen the sheer magnitude of the current crisis; what kind of prospects do you see for watchmaking?
Nobody can claim to have the answer; some are predicting it will last of six months or one year - I hope they are right! We know neither the depth nor the duration of this crisis. What's important for us is to continue gaining market shares. Having constantly invested in both commercial and creative development, we can now rely on over 300 Cartier boutiques, while our design department comprises thirty people from 11 countries and is still growing. This new SIHH has proved that we have made the right decisions on all levels. The firm has already witnessed several economic crises as well as two world wars, but it is ber than ever and our strategy is holding fast to the same course.
Cartier is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its American subsidiary in 2009: what other major events can we expect this year?
Another big event will take place at the end of the year in China, where we are to be hosted by the Palace Museum of the Forbidden City. This is the first time that the doors are open to a specific brand, an opportunity that enables us to display the full extent of the Cartier heritage, expertise and culture. Last year, Cartier had also been invited to Russia by the Kremlin Museum. Keenly aware that Cartier has created almost everything in terns of jewellery and that its achievements encompass all styles, museums are eager to organise historical exhibitions of our contribution to this field. We are expecting several hundred thousand visitors.
[Rating: 5 / 5 stars]
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