WATCHES & WONDERS 2020: All Cartier Novelties

The Cartier symbol was initially launched in 1985 and it was an original design exercise as the first watch dial to put a square inside a circle. The relaunch of now keeps all the details that made the story famous and adds special features to make it contemporary.

One of if not the one key design element us the chained crown. For the new version, Cartier adds increased refinement, equipping the winding crown, hidden under the fluted crown cover, with a blue spinel or sapphire. Moreover Cartier is unveiling a new customisable engraving. Carved in the form of initials, the engraving appears under the crown cover and it is only revealed when the chained crown is unscrewed.

Pasha de Cartier watch now features a new strap system that allows changing without any tools. Available in  In steel, gold or leather, all versions can be interchanged thanks to an adaptation of the Cartier-developed QuickSwitch system. This invisible mechanism blends into an architecture located under the case and is activated by a single push.

The sizing adjustment of the metal bracelet to the nearest link has been added to this cutting-edge technology. The SmartLink system, which has been registered for a patent, allows the bracelet length to be adjusted by the owner without the use of a tool. Each SmartLink link is equipped with a push button that releases the fixing bar allowing removal or addition of the metal links of the Pasha de Cartier watch.

Inside the elegant case and easily admirable through the sapphire crystal case back, there is an in-house automatic movement developed especially to resist both magnetism and water.

The collection is built to meet a large variety of tastes in the Cartier style. Therefore, the new Pasha is available in steel, yellow gold, pink gold and set with diamonds. The case is offered in two sizes: 41 mm diameter and 35 mm. The offer includes references incorporating fine jewellery pieces and fine watchmaking creations with skeleton versions. Besides the automatic mechanism with a 40 hours power reserve, the special skeleton version has a power reserve of 48 hours while the Tourbillon pieces are manual wound with a power reserve of 50 hours.

The Tank was Louis Cartier’s bright idea to give a watch the shape of a rectangle in 1917, at a time when timepieces were round. From 1917 to 1936, it saw multiple incarnations.

When it appeared in 1936, the Tank Asymétrique watch – also known at the time as the Parallélogramme or Losange – marked a break with tradition: unlike any other watch, it questioned the established order of things. Everything had to be made especially to fit the crazy idea of Cartier including the leather strap.

The new Tank Asymetrique comes in a large case – 47,15 x 26,2 mm – with a special movement – the Manufacture 1917 MC – and as a reference to the 1930s  the choice had to be a hand-wound movement with a power reserve of 38 hours. On the dial, the Arabic numerals and their separating indexes have been completely redesigned. The watch is available in pink gold with a grey dial and strap, in yellow gold with a champagne dial and brown strap, and in platinum with a silver-coloured dial, ruby cabochon and grey strap. The made-to-measure straps are tted with an ardillon buckle. Each aesthetic comes in a limited edition of 100 numbered pieces.

Tank Asymetrique comes also as a skeleton with a specially developed hand-wound calibre with a 48 hours power reserve The watch comes in pink gold on a brown or grey strap, in platinum on a blue or black strap, and in a gem-set platinum version on a black or glossy blue strap. Made to measure, these straps are fitted with an ardillon buckle, a rare option in Fine Watchmaking. An elegant and unique watch, created in a limited series of 100 numbered pieces for each aesthetic.

Cartier plays with the story of adventurer Santos-Dumont and adds for exclusive limited editions to the Santos Collection. Inside the limited editions there is a mechanical hand-wound movement and the case back comes engraved with the original plans of Santos-Dumont himself.

The “Le Brésil” Santos-Dumont watch comes in a platinum case with silvered dial decorated with 12 polished metallic Roman numerals, sword-shaped hands and a ruby on the winding crown. On the reverse is engraved the design of Santos- Dumont’s very first machine, “Le Brésil”, created in 1898 – “the smallest” and “the most beautiful”, according to the aviator. Its unveiling took place on 4 July 1898, after which a series of airships numbered 1 to 22 would emerge between 1898 and 1909, representing his many attempts to defy the laws of weightlessness. The edition is numbered and limited to 100 pieces.

The “La Baladeuse” Santos-Dumont watch comes in a yellow gold case, champagne dial, sapphire winding crown, blued sword-shaped hands and patinated green alligator-skin strap.

On the back is engraved the profile of “La Baladeuse” or “n°9”, an experimental-looking motorised airship in which Santos-Dumont crossed the French capital’s sky in 1903. A small, bulging single-seater, “La Baladeuse” was intended for the personal use of its creator, who wished to demonstrate its usefulness in urban spaces. “The day will come when aerial omnibuses will transport tourists and business travellers,” insisted its creator. The edition is numbered and limited to 300 pieces.

The “n°14 bis” Santos-Dumont watch comes with a yellow gold bezel on a steel case, anthracite grey dial, blue spinel winding crown and gilded steel sword- shaped hands. On the back there is an engraving of “n°14 bis”. In this flying machine, often described as a ‘kite of compartments’, the pilot, standing in the fuselage, was connected to the rudder and ns by cables. On 23 October 1906, after a day full of pitfalls, the “n°14 bis” won the Archdeacon Cup. Then, on 12 November, it took the Aéro-Club award. Alberto thus became the first aviator to complete a flight of 220 metres verified by an of official organisation.

The Santos-Dumont “La Demoiselle” watch, with a lacquered wooden box and precious accessories comes as an extra-large-sized watch celebrating masculine elegance in 30 numbered pieces, engraved with the design of “La Demoiselle”, the most elegant of Santos’ flying machines. This platinum watch with ruby cabochon was created in homage to Alberto Santos-Dumont, the pioneering dandy whose silhouette is inseparable from the panama hat he was never seen without. Cartier pays tribute to this stylish accessory by using a made-to-measure Panama-weave strap. Created in 1908, “La Demoiselle” engraved on the case back is Alberto Santos-Dumont’s most accomplished flying machine, and one of the first aircraft to be mass produced. With it began a new era: “And we will sail through the air seeing Europe unfold at our feet like a geographical map. There we will remain, suspended between the stars and the earth.” All the 30 pieces are sold only with a series of accessories included in a special lacquered maple wood box.

The Santos-Dumont collection welcomes an XL version with a case of 46,6 x 33,9 mm. Inside the case, Cartier adds an in-house caliber with manual winding – 430 MC – and a power reserve of 38 hours.