Cartier presents three watches as a preview to the 2014 collection that it will be presenting at the SIHH in January. Two of the models offer novel interpretations of traditional complications, while the third introduces a new technique for finishing movement bridges.

Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire
Cartier’s reinterpretation of the perpetual calendar offers a unique display with the day, date and month visible on concentric scales set in three dimensions around the tourbillon. Besides replacing the profusion of subdials usually associated with perpetual calendars, Cartier’s new approach also uses a gear train to drive the perpetual calendar display, rather than the usual lever and spring mechanisms. This offers two major benefits over traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms: the date is adjusted using the crown, rather than the fiddly pushpieces often found on other perpetual calendars, and – also unlike many other perpetual calendar complications – it can be adjusted at any time without fear of damaging the movement.

Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire

The calibre 9459MC movement that powers the Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire is a self-winding flying tourbillon movement that operates at 21,600 vibrations per hour, offers a 50-hour power reserve and bears the Geneva Hallmark certification. It is a limited edition of 100 pieces in platinum.

Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch
Many brands have lavished attention on the finish of their moon phase displays, choosing precious materials to represent the heavenly firmament. Cartier has quite simply reinvented the moon phase display itself, which it proposes as an “on-demand” function. At the press of the button at 4 o’clock on the watch case, an arm bearing a beautiful lapis lazuli disc sweeps across the tourbillon carriage and stops to reproduce the crescent of the moon that corresponds exactly to the current phase of the moon.

Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch

The image on the left is the watch in its normal state, the one on the right with the moon phase function activated

The lapis lazuli continues on the dial itself, which is dominated by oversized three-dimensional Roman numerals, offset hour and minute hands and a map of the world around which revolves a 24-hour disc showing the second time zone. The unique complication is powered by Cartier’s calibre 9440MC manually wound tourbillon movement, which operates at 21,600 vibrations per hour and offers a power reserve of approximately three days. The Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch is a limited edition of 50 pieces in platinum.

Tank MC Two-Tone Skeleton watch
The Tank Skeleton uses the brand’s characteristic Roman numerals as the very base for the movement bridges, which means that there is no need for a dial and that the calibre 9619 movement can be admired in all its glory. In this new two-tone model, the bridges are coated in black on their flat surfaces but show off a layer of gold, to match the pink-gold case, on their bevelled edges.

Tank MC Two-Tone Skeleton watch by Cartier