For this year's edition of the world's most important watchmaking event, the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, Cartier unveils something truly extraordinary. The legendary French luxury brand, now owned by Richemont, presents its very first watch that unites two of its iconic signatures: skeleton work with a mysterious movement!
The gorgeous union of aesthetics and technical excellence is embodied in the Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Skeleton Mysterious Hour, a watch powered by the in-house calibre 9983 MC. The breathtaking creation reveals a clash of contrasts – a completely asymmetrical dial nestled inside of a perfectly round case. The structured movement is completely revealed from both of its sides, while the mechanism that drives hours and minutes hands remains completely invisible.
Of course, any true connoisseur of watchmaking art will know that Cartier’s latest creation incorporates the ingenious mystery movement, an in-house complication that was developed more than a century ago, in 1912, with the first mystery clocks. The hands, visible at the large sub-dial at 9 o’clock, are not directly connected with the movement, but are joined on two sapphire discs fitted with teeth around their circumference. The discs are set in motion by the delicate workings of the movement, and as they move, they turn the hands.
The Manufacture movement with manual winding has been delicately skeletonized and sculpted in the shape of Roman numerals. The gear train of the mysterious movement, which is usually hidden beneath the dial, is here exposed to the tiniest details, but without revealing anything of the mysterious mechanism’s magic.
Cartier’s Calibre 9983 MC is housed in a round Palladium case of 42mm in diameter and 11.9mm of thickness. The movement, assembled from 192 individual components and 27 jewels, beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour, and provides around 48 hours of power reserve. The Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Skeleton Mysterious Hour is mounted on a black alligator strap, and comes with a price tag of $75,000 USD. More info will soon be available at Cartier.com.
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