The Calibre de Cartier Astrotourbillon Calibre 9451 MC

Designed by the masters of watchmaking, new Calibre de Cartier Astrotourbillon is powered by Cartier in-house highly technical 9451 MC movement. This is going to be one of the watches to be presented at the SIHH 2011 in Geneva. Prior to this model, Cartier unveiled the manual wind Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon, in pink gold and white gold versions. These elegant and classical pieces were slightly more refined. Nevertheless, new Cartier Astrotourbillon Calibre 9451 MC, brings more masculine appeal embodied in a bold and robust 47mm titanium case.

The timepiece is visually striking. Once again, it repeats the mastery of tourbillon complication, which seamlessly counters the effects of gravity by mounting the escapement and balance wheel in a rotating cage.

The 9451 MC movement features a tourbillon carriage equipped with the various organs of the escapement and sprung balance. The third wheel of the gear train drives the carriage, while the pinion of the escapement wheel rotates around a fixed seconds-wheel in order to drive the escapement.

The tourbillion is quite spectacular and truly unique due to a number of exquisite features: the carriage has a special rotational axis, for it is positioned at the centre of the movement; the balance staff and escapement-wheel staff are not on the same rotational axis as the carriage but to one side of the carriage; the tourbillon carriage is positioned “above” the movement between two dials, rather than being directly integrated into the movement as with classic tourbillons.

The Calibre de Cartier Astrotourbillon Calibre 9451 MC has sapphire crystal front and case-back. The delicate movements of the inner mechanism are visible trough the transparent back. The piece is water resistant up to 30 meters, and suitable for everyday use. The Astrotourbillon movement is manually wind, and provides a power reserve of approximately 48 hours.