Ong Chin Huat gets up close and personal with Cartier’s latest timepiece novelties unveiled during Watches and Wonders 2023.
Cartier’s new collection of timepieces for this year’s Watches and Wonders revisits some of its best-known classics, which have been transformed through the prism of creativity. Echoing the ethos of Cartier, who believes time is cyclical rather than linear, it’s no surprise then that this luxury Maison indulges in the process of transformation and reinvention when it looks into the future.
The Tank, the iconic Cartier timepiece for this season, is represented by a new Tank Normale, a homage to the very first Tank created in 1917 by Louis Cartier. This new iteration has an hour/minute version with the proportions and bevelled sapphire crystal of the original, available in yellow gold on a brown alligator strap and platinum on a black alligator strap.
A skeleton movement and a 24-hour complication marked by a sun and crescent moon, which is also skeletonised, brings it up-to-date. Available in a limited edition of 50 numbered watches, this skeletonised Tank comes in yellow gold on a brown and green alligator strap with a blue sapphire cabochon on the winding crown.
The Tank Americaine, on the other hand, was launched in 1989 and is inspired by the Tank Cintree watch. For the 2023 version, Cartier has reinforced the original design of the watch with its curved case, the style of its dial and the integration of its brancards into the extension of the strap.
Internally, this new Tank Americaine is equipped with the new 1899 MC movement for a slimmer case and comes with an all-gold and steel or a rose gold with diamonds version.
The understated Santos-Dumont is given a modern twist, elevating this slim classic timepiece to a stratospheric style. While it stays true to its roots, the 1904 model features a skeleton movement with each structural detail referencing the aviator. Available in rose gold and steel, the new Santos-Dumont skeleton watch is also available in a limited-edition yellow gold and navy lacquer.
The new Baignoire watch has lived through several incarnations, but this year, all embellishments have been pared down and are presented in its purest form. With a change in size and proportion, the eye-catching oval dial is surrounded by a gold bezel that fits the wrist, almost like a piece of jewellery.
Complicated in its visage but simplistic to the watch connoisseur, the Clash (Un)limited is characterised by an elegant mechanism. Worn either as a timepiece or a bracelet, the Clash (Un)limited has beads, picot studs, clou carres and mobility which flow around the wearer’s wrists, creating a stunning look.
Being first and foremost a celebrated jeweller, it’s hard for Cartier to deviate away from what it does best and what it is well-known for. Jewellery watches are this luxury Maison’s raison d’etat, and this year, its offerings in this category are no exception.
From the geometric perfection of the Tank with its beautifully embellished bracelet composed of cylindrical links made from onyx, chrysoprase or coral with diamonds interspersed in-between to the sensual curves of the elongated oval of the Baignoire Allongée with the abstract intricacies of marquetry on the dial made from mother-of-pearl, turquoise and onyx with a play of colours.
Matching the gemstones decorating the bezel like blue tourmalines, grey spinels and diamonds, no one would dispute that the Baignoire Allongée is a wearable work of art, requiring 25 hours of work just for the marquetry.
For further information on Cartier’s novelties from Watches and Wonders 2023 and to explore its current range of watches and jewellery pieces, please visit www.cartier.com.
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