One of the interesting watches unveiled at Cartier’s SIHH 2013 presentation is the new Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Hours.
This gorgeous and elegant Cartier watch has a very simple face that actually conceals enormously complex mechanism that helps the hands appear to float on the dial. This paradoxical creation is at the same time simple and highly complicated, since its simple display requires no less than hundreds of hours of careful engineering. The connection between the hands and the movement is completely invisible thanks to two large sapphire crystal discs that turn on fine pivots. In such a way, the friction between the crystals (weighing 0.56 g) is almost completely eliminated, reduced to a bare minimum, which helps the movement to operate much longer on its power reserve.
The movement has a modular structure and it is composed of two distinct elements: the movement proper and an independent display module. There are four anti-reflective sapphire crystal discs integrated in the movement, ensuring that no dust will enter the case. It may sound unbelievable but no less than 58% of the diameter of the calibre 9981 MC movement are actually sapphire crystal discs, assembled separately in a laminar flow hood.
The innovative calibre 9981 MC, nested in the 42 mm case-diameter, beats at 21,800 vibrations per hour and provides 48 hours of power reserve. The movement is individually numbered and it shows its face through the transparent case-back while still concealing the mystery of the floating hands.
Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Hours reference numbers and prices:
- W1556223 – crafted from pink gold
$52,500 excl. sales tax - W1556224: crafted from white gold
$56,000 excl. sales tax
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