Cartier Ballon Bleu Silver Dial Steel and 18k Rose Gold Unisex Watch WE902031

GMT XXL - Summer 2012
Neither exactly the same nor entirely different, the legendary Tank by Cartier has evolved with changing eras and fashions while remaining in tune with the times. From 1919, the year the first Tank was created, it has appeared in a number of different guises. Cintered, Hunter-type, Pivoting, Asymmetrical, Rectangular: a wealth of names to define its multi-faceted personality. It has also proven itself a born traveller. It was Chinese in 1922, American in 1989, French in 1996 - and now appears as the Tank Anglaise - an international dimension that remains a constant guiding theme throughout the entire Cartier range.

Tank : a strange name for a watch synonymous with elegance and refinement. An oral tradition of the House has it that Louis Cartier himself likened the architecture of the Tank watch to that of the homonymous military vehicle viewed from above. The epitome of aesthetic restraint, the Tank watch with its lugs perfectly integrated within the case and forming an extension of the wristband, symbolizes modern elegance capable of stylistic variations according to the technical watchmaking aspects featured. Offering a blend of functional and modern elements, it embodies an important dimension of the Cartier style : quintessential design, the strength of self-evidence, a taste for pure lines serving to grasp the essence of the work while freeing it from details, excesses and undue ornamentation that might blur the innate sense of beauty.

The new Tank Anglaise features a concentrated shape, reinforced lines and a tauter yet delightfully ample design. This inherently generous nature is echoed in the specifics of the watch. Integrated bracelet, Roman numerals, railtrack minute circle and blued steel dagger- type hands are the characteristic details that forge its distinctive personality. Nonetheless, its authentic signature is undoubtedly its parallel shafts or carriers that now contain the winding-crown to ensure a perfect alignment, forming a coherent, easily readable whole. Connoisseurs will note that when the watch is viewed from the side, the winding crown appears like a subtle allusion to the wheel of a tank. The ultimate androgynous watch, the Tank Anglaise comes in three sizes in three gold colours, available in restrained or gemset versions. The large models beat to the rhythm of the Manufacture MC 1904 movement visible through the open caseback.

The Tank Anglaise is not the only model in the collection to have been introduced in 2012. The Tank Louis Cartier XL ultra-thin model asserts itself as a supremely masculine and refined watch with now softened lines of the rectangle and the square. A contemporary interpretation of the model unveiled in 1922, and which made an interesting contribution to the Art Deco style, this new Tank equipped with a hand-wound Manufacture movement is the thinnest in the collection, at just 5.1 mm thick.

Finally, the Tank is not always synonymous with rigorous, demure designs. Tinged with a fascinating hint of wildness, the Tank Folle perpetuates the extravagant, fanciful spirit of the 1960s Crash watch with total formal freedom. A sunburst effect dial, Roman numerals and blued steel dagger-type hands… The Tank vocabulary is indeed present, but diverted in an extremely expressive way in this off beat model issued in a 200-piece limited edition.

Reading and listening to time

While the eye, which is by nature subjective, can tolerate varying appraisals of volumes, colours and shapes according to individual education and sensitivity, when it comes to sound, the ear can barely ever stand something that is almost right but not quite... Based on this simple yet self-evident observation, Cartier has pushed its research to the peak to develop a minute repeater watch with a sound verging on perfection. Five years of work in the field of horological acoustics were required to create the Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon Calibre 9402 MC watch, stamped with the Poinçon de Geneve. Since new scientific sound analysis methods had highlighted a significant number of flaws in the manner of reproducing time through sound, the first step was to redefine the very concept of sound, in other words the auditory sensation engendered by an acoustic wave. Research led to the elaboration of a new horological theory : the lighter the watch case and the broader its diameter, the louder it is liable to sound. Cartier devoted particular attention to the exterior of this new-generation classic watch. The goal was to transmit a clear, powerful, regular and crystal-clear sound with no echo or parasitic sonic disturbance that might spoil the tone of the notes intended to endow time with a beautifully audible dimension.

The Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon watch comes in a broad 45 mm diameter case crafted in titanium or pink gold versions, which connoisseurs will appreciate for their incredible lightness achieved through an ethereal approach to the mechanism bearing the Poinçon de Geneve quality hallmark. The aesthetic equilibrium of this exquisitely elegant model matches its mechanical complexity. Informed observers will delight in admiring the inertia and friction governor serving to ensure the steady striking rate of the hammers, as well as the rotation of the flying tourbillon.
A recent newcomer to the watchmaking world, since it was developed just under 15 years ago, the annual calendar soon proved the absolute weapon in terms of date display on watches intended Rotonde de Cartier Annual Calendar reflects the brand's to offer its clients creations with classic and original lines backed up by impeccable developments enhanced with useful functions. In order to avoid unnecessary constraints when setting the watch into operation, the movement design team of the Manufacture developed a mechanism serving to automatically adjust the date at the end of the month as well as to display the days and months throughout the year, without any manual intervention apart from the transition from February 28th or 29th to March 1st. The brand-new Manufacture Calibre 9908 MC is distinguished by its adjustment mechanism serving to control the entire set of annual calendar information via the winding-crown - a practical feature that is sure to appeal to devotees of fine mechanical horology, especially since the mechanism is enhanced by an extremely elegant aesthetic. At the heart of a contemporary 45 mm-diameter case in white or pink gold, each detail contributes to a genuine sense of balance and harmony. There is nothing ostentatious about this model, which is instead all about discretion - right the way through to the style of the two "hammer" hands of which only the red tips can be seen, serving to indicate the calendar information enriching the large date display visible through a double open window at 12 o'clock. This fascinating sobriety may be admired through the sapphire crystal exhibition back of the watch.

Among the stunning new models unveiled this year, the watches showcasing artistic crafts provide infinite scope for the talent of the Cartier artisans who constantly explore new skills, new materials and new gestures in watchmaking. In contemplating the unique dialogue between horological constraints and traditional craftsmanship, the aesthete's gaze is naturally drawn to the fi nesse of the straw marquetry adorning the Rotonde de Cartier 35 mm watch, koala motif; the infinite palette of colours in the mosaic pattern adorning the Santos-Dumont XL watch, horse motif; the hypnotic effect created by the grisaille enamel of the Rotonde de Cartier watch, tiger motif; along with the subtly graded shades of mother-of-pearl and the enamel contrasts of the Tortue watch, cockatoo motif.