From the Tank Louis Cartier along with its many iterations to the gem-festoon Coussin de Cartier, Cartier once again offers an awesome versatile collection with a range to suit the taste of even the most discerning collector.
Tank Louis Cartier
The timeless legendary Tank gives us so many reasons to love this watch for its pure lines, perfect form and precise proportions. Tank’s creation in 1917 paved the way for many different versions. In 1922, the design of the Tank watch was reworked: the case was elongated, the brancards were refined and the angles softened. The resulting Tank Louis Cartier would go on to borrow the monochrome dials of its sister and of the Tank Must, born in 1977. In 2021, Cartier revealed a Tank Louis Cartier watch whose dial featured the rectangle-within-a-rectangle motif that first appeared on a Must de Cartier watch from the 1980s.
This year, the Tank Louis Cartier rolls in with a new look in monochrome dials: red, the Maison’s signature colour; and anthracite grey, a shade borrowed from the Cartier watchmaking palette. Depending on the light and the angle that you view this timepiece, its vibrancy and rich shade are revealed.
To achieve this effect, Cartier’s watchmaking craftsmen used for the first time an innovative electrochemical engraving technique that allows for very high-precision invisible markings. This is done in different directions that form a group of sections and areas that recreates the graphic pattern featured on the dial of a Cartier Must watch from the 1980s. Even the techniques used for colouring differ, such as lacquer for the red dial and a galvanised finish for the grey dial. The dials are then enhanced with a glossy, multi-layered decal that accentuates the Roman numerals. Even more radical and intense is the third version of the Tank Louis Cartier complements with its deep black dial. The bright lacquer contrasts with the radiance of the gold case. Fully redesigned in 2021 to be as close as possible to the Tank Louis Cartier, the 2022 edition of the Tank Must features an all-black dial.
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Masse Mystérieuse
Cartier loves a good mystery, as evident by their Mystery clocks where the hands of the clock appear to float over the transparent body of the clock, with no connection to the movement. This year, the mystery continues through the Masse Mystérieuse, a spectacular watch that turns to the rhythm of an original movement.
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The mystery lies in the magic of a mobile calibre that is condensed into a semi-circle and transformed into a skeletonised oscillating weight. Mesmerising? Indeed, the Masse Mystérieuse watch brings together two of the Maison’s watchmaking signatures: the mysterious movement and the skeleton design.
Since the mystery clocks first appeared in the 1910s, the movement has not only been miniaturised to fit watch cases but, for this new creation, it has also been reimagined to make the oscillating weight a real ornament.
The new calibre 9801 MC, which took nearly eight years to perfect, makes sure the effects of gravity do not affect the chronometer. On the Masse Mystérieuse watch, the hands float in the space of the case, without being connected to any gears. More than that: the whole movement also seems weightless. All components that receive energy from the movement, transmission and regulation are integrated into the rotor. The rotor itself is skeletonised to make this moving spectacle visible.
In the centre, an ultra-sophisticated differential system — borrowed from the automotive industry — has been integrated into the movement to prevent the time display from being caught in the mass. A technical feat that comes to life at the slightest touch of the wearer and seamlessly displays the time to the rhythm of the hands in the void. On this piece, the most technical and complex piece ever developed by the Manufacture’s watchmakers, the mysterious rotor uses an innovative principle that ensures the balance wheel always remains in the same vertical position. For this to happen, the rotor rotates in both directions at an irregular speed.
Coussin de Cartier
The Maison brings the best of its expertise into this collection — jewellery and timepieces. The Coussin de Cartier watch is square-hemmed with diamonds set in a spiral that sits on the padded shape of the case.
Stones of different diameters are set in graphic gold edges that are the result of the Maison’s savoir-faire. A triangular setting allows the diamonds to be directly integrated into the case without using the traditional grain-setting.
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The Coussin de Cartier watch also comes in two limited editions: A creative unit that is designed as a soft case, flexible to the touch and entirely paved with diamonds or coloured stones, emeralds, tourmalines, tsavorites and sapphires.
Take a closer look and you will see delicate gold links that intertwine to weave a grid pattern within which Cartier has integrated an innovative element. This allows the case to deform and retract to its original shape. The challenge faced and executed so brilliantly by Cartier is to match and set a wide variety of diameters and shades of stones. This approach is made all the more complex by the fact that the watch is flexible, requiring the watchmaker to seal it with a resin before releasing it.
The Coussin watch is sensory on all levels. Beyond the sense of touch, the sight is electrified by the iridescence of diamonds and coloured stones. The case, dial and buckle are set with 279 brilliant-cut diamonds (1.35 cts), 56 tsavorites and 120 blue tourmalines Crown set with a brilliant-cut diamond (0.13 cts).
Cartier Privé
Each year, the Cartier Privé collection celebrates the Maison’s iconic models through limited-edition numbered watches. Today, the Tank Chinoise watch reveals the mystery of the skeleton movement within its new rectangular dial.
The open-worked dial reveals the workings of the movement, much like traditional Chinese windows. Inspired by Chinese savoir-faire, the black and red lacquer brings both preciousness and the effect of depth. The 9627 MC skeleton movement of the watch was developed by Cartier exclusively for this Tank Chinoise.
This spectacular watch is complemented by a large and understated hour-minute version in platinum, yellow gold or rose gold, with horizontal bevelled-edge bars. It beats to the rhythm of the 430 MC movement, which is currently the Maison’s finest mechanical movement.
Pasha de Cartier Grille
Making its debut in the 1980s, the Pasha de Cartier is a classic that is still timeless as it continues to inspire with its creativity and an intelligent design that allows it to evolve. This year, the Pasha de Cartier is made with a big dose of vitality and power; it is a watch that defies convention with a grid over the dial. Some will say that this is Cartier showing its playful side. Playfulness aside, these watches are serious when it comes to their complex inner workings found in the Moonphase Pasha de Cartier and the skeleton Pasha de Cartier.
In 1985, the Pasha de Cartier watch was born. At the time, its name paid tribute to Pasha El Glaoui of Marrakesh, one of the Maison’s most loyal customers between 1920 and 1950 and a collector of watchmaking pieces. New loyal customers of today will love the Pasha de Cartier Grille that features the watch’s strong graphic signature, the square inside the circle and the four oversized Arabic numerals that it sits over and marks out. This is a grid whose design gives this character-rich watch a spectacular textured effect. Delicately recreated, it encases the dial. The grille is removable as the Manufacture has developed a new system supported by four tiny clasps with a very complex spring to scale. This allows it to be attached and detached with ease.
The watch is easy to wear with or without it, in two different styles.
The Pasha de Cartier Grille watch is available in an all-gold 41 mm version and in 30mm and 35mm jewellery versions.
