Our first day report from the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie at Geneva’s Palexpo covers new products from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Cartier presented a whole host of new models at the show, including a number of jewellery models introducing new techniques at the brand such as straw marquetry and grisaille enamel. At the other end of the spectrum a new Tank Anglaise model was presented as a complement to the existing Tank Française and Tank Americaine watches. High-end pieces such as a tourbillon minute-repeater in the Rotonde de Cartier case and a highly original pocket watch inspired by a 1927 design but with the brand’s trademark skeletonised Roman numerals complete the 2012 collection.

The pocket watch comprises no less than 300 individual bevels on the Roman numerals alone, which dominate the circumference of the case. In addition to the tourbillion and minute repeater features, the movement also has a perpetual calendar and a monopusher chronograph. Only 10 pieces of this model will be produced at a retail price of half a million Euros, each supplied with an imposing portico case that allows the pocket watch to be used as a table clock.

The Tank Anglaise line continues the 90-year heritage of the Cartier Tank line with a new design that integrates the bracelet and the crown into the case. The collection comprises a total of 28 references spread across three different case sizes in red or white gold with a selection of diamond-set versions available for each gold colour.

Van Cleef & Arpels presented a 2012 version of the classic Pierre Arpels watch from 1949, which brings the original model’s understated design in line with the brand’s current identity with the hallmark tapisserie design at the centre of the dial.

The brand also continues the story of its Poetic Wish line, which recounts the story of two Parisian lovers. Two models are dedicated to the latest instalment in the adventure featuring animations of the young girl and her lover. In the Lady Arpels Poetic Wish, the animation sees the girl on the Eiffel Tower. She moves to the centre of the dial on demand, sending a wish (represented by a kite flying away) to the Notre Dame cathedral visible in the distance. On the dial of the Midnight Poetic Wish the young man steps out on the terrace of the Notre Dame cathedral on activation and a diamond-set shooting star carries his wish towards the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

The transparent case back of both of these models reveals as much detail on the movement as there is on the dial, with an additional dial for the hours and minutes, plus a separate dial for the seconds. Visible at the centre of the case are two hammers, positioned vertically, that strike gongs for the hours and minutes of the minute-repeater mechanism which, unlike other minute repeaters, generates its sound through the sapphire crystal rather than the case itself. The presentation case for the watches has been designed using the same techniques as for wooden musical instruments in order to set off perfectly the chimes of the repeater mechanism.

Van Cleef & Arpels also announced the opening of a new jewellery school in Paris on Valentine’s Day this year. The school will be open to the general public and will provide a variety of courses designed to offer an introduction to the world of jewellery and a full immersion into the universe of Van Cleef & Arpels.