Cartier

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Infrastructure is, of course, only part of the story. Anything produced by Cartier is always going to be worth looking at, but what makes Cartier HH exceptional is what Forestier and Poulit-Duquesne did with the capabilities they were presented with. Introduced at the 2008 SIHH, the Ballon Bleu Flying tourbillon was seen as an eccentric, but undoubtedly successful, high end take on the Ballon Bleu that was first shown to the world in 2007. What was already quite a contemporary shape, though originally shown with very traditional dials, had a completely reinvented Cartier aesthetic and a Geneva Seal quality flying tourbillon.

The plaudits arrived quickly generating a surge of interest that was crowned later in the year with an award at the Grand Prix de Geneve. More importantly, Cartier subsidiaries quickly realized its potential and moved fast to secure supplies for their markets. However, as far as the outside world was concerned, the Ballon Bleu Tourbillon was an intriguing one-off, an impression Cartier did nothing to correct.

The bomb landed at the 2009 edition of SIHH, which saw the launch of a complete collection of pure haute horlogerie watches following the Ballon Bleu in terms of design and, more importantly, the in-house manufacture movements they are fitted with. It was as Cartier stated, a quantum leap, the ten new watches included an ambitious range of movements and case shapes, all given the design treatment first seen in the Ballon Bleu, which should have been no surprise given the obvious care and detail invested in that design. Again to paraphrase Cartier the collection has an array of shapes designed to a dynamic impetus that is expressed in the striking silhouettes, inventive graphic designs and spectacular volumes.

Yet these watches also fit seamlessly within the Cartier universe. All brands try to define and remain consistent with their design codes (a step on in jargon from brand DNA), but few have as clear and consistent a set of codes as Cartier. Look at the new watches and those codes are clearly visible from the Roman numerals, the blued sword hands and rectangular inner track on Tank Americaine.

Heart of the matter

While the design is rewarding to say the least, the point of this new direction is the movements inside. The flying Tourbillon caliber is based on a Roger Dubuis design and is made at the Geneva manufacture allowing the watch to qualify for the Poincon de Geneve (Geneva Seal) which is a powerful statement of Cartier’s ambition here as well as an absolute assurance of craftsmanship – though perversely the Poincon standards prohibit some advanced manufacturing techniques, the standard is still highly respected and rightly sought after by collectors. Under the guidance of Forestier, the movement was substantially reworked to match Cartier expectations in terms of durability and ease of use.

The tourbillon sits alongside two new movements designed from scratch by Forestier’s team at La Chaux-de-Fonds. The first is the skeleton 9611 MC calibre, a product of Forestier’s experience at Renaud et Papi and Valfleurier. Creative and highly contemporary, the 9611 uses the cut out Roman numerals as part of the bridge structure making for a far more open and less busy design than is the norm for such watches. But look closely and all the codes are there from the intertwined C’s on the regulator to the inner square from which the numerals spring.

The second is a central counters chronograph (running all the hands from the centre – a minor but noticeable vogue among the more serious watchmaking circles). Taking advantage of the fact that each hand is on a separate plane, Forestier’s solution to what could be a bulky problem is elegant and practical. Despite the necessarily complex transmission system, the whole movement gets away around 280 components and an 11½ Ligne movement.

A second chronograph in the collection derives from a commission Cartier gave to Renaud et Papi in 2005. The idea was championed by Forestier as being true to Cartier’s heritage – the Paris company had created a mono-pusher Tortue-cased chronograph in the late 1920’ – and Cartier wanted an alternative to the simple tourbillon in the form of a further complication. “I suggested to marketing that we should produce a single push-piece chronograph combined with the tourbillon movement, as it is the emblematic complication at Cartier”, said Forestier.

SIHH 2010 saw the collection added to with new models such as a skeleton Rotonde de Cartier and the incredible Astro-Tourbillon, while Cartier simultaneously launched Calibre de Cartier, a more affordable collection of manufacture watches that sits comfortably with the Haute Horlogerie collection.

Since the Richemont Group’s founding, Cartier has played an important role in the luxury concern as its premier brand and instigator of turnover. Yet it should come as no surprise that male watch aficionados have mostly shrugged their shoulders and turned away from the brand, seeing it as high on fancy design and low on watchmaking genius. After all, Cartier’s modern reputation is founded more on its manufacturing of jewelry and jeweled watches for women. Even in the concern’s annual report, Cartier is not listed as a “specialist watch brand”.

This, however, could all be changing-for one, because the Richemont Group’s purchase of the Roger Dubuis manufacture in Geneva is full of developmental potential for Cartier, and secondly, because a significant number of professionals have been added to the development team at Carter Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

One of the brand’s newest developments is the Cartier caliber 1904, which made its debut in the model called Calibre. With its diameter of 42 millimeters, this strikingly designed men’s watch is also well positioned in the segment. The designation 1904 MC is a reference to the year in which Louis Cartier developed the first wristwatch made for men –a pilot’s watch custom designed for his friend and early pioneer of aviation, Alberto Santos-Dumont.

The new automatic movement is a largely unadorned, yet efficient machine, powered by twin barrels. The central rotor sits on ceramic ball bearings, and the adjustment of the conventional escapement is by excenter screw.

This completely in-house movement marks the end of the restructuring and the beginning of a new age for the tradition-steeped enterprise.