Every year at the SIHH Cartier holds a parallel exhibition. At its booth, Cartier presents between 20 and 40 jewelry watches in closed display cases. These are not to be found in its catalogue, and the public will not see them in the shops. They are not produced in multiple copies to satisfy a number of clients. They are creative, superbly executed, high-end unique pieces. Up to 2016, Cartier had juxtaposed these examples of rare savoir-faire, however had never really got them talking to each other.
Before I get into the technical aspects of the watch, I want to talk about the shape of the Drive de Cartier Replica watch. It's a new design for Cartier, looking like a cushion-shaped watch with a defined dial that has soft corners rather than a circular dial. The result was Cartier squared: mechanical expertise combined with fine jewelry , speaking with a single voice to enchant, surprise and elicit desire. It works, and it works very well. The dials all have a richness of depth to them, with a focus on the interplay between visual texture that contrasts the varying guillotine designs, flat surface dial, and even "skeletonizing" the space between the roman numerals in the flying tourbillon model to expose the guilloche below. It's an undeniably stunning piece that is sure to get the attention of collectors who are looking for something new from the "Fine Watchmaking" workshops of Cartier.
As a matter of fact, I could learn to like it however would much prefer this next one. It is the same trusted movement used in watches like the Cartier Tank MC. Are people going to whine about the date window? The steel and pink gold versions that run on the 1904-FU MC are the "small complication" Replica Cartier watches. Probably. They're the kind of watches where you know a lovable and affable octogenarian will spend the better part of an evening talking your ear off about. I'm actually one of those people who would prefer the option to not have it there, however it doesn't really take away all that much from this watch. Of course, I am mostly referring to the steel models of this watch for this example.
These offer a second time zone dial at 10 o'clock and a day/night indicator at 4 o'clock. As fatigued as I am of the date window conversation, I must say the big date window at 12 o'clock here looks great and is definitely nicer than the smaller one at 3 o'clock in the 1904-PS MC model. The new mathematics of high-jewelry watchmaking make the most of mysterious movements, whose secret mechanisms enable the hands to float within a transparent disc.
This watch runs on the manual 9452 MC movement, which merely shows the time and the tourbillon. It as well carries the Geneva Seal, which is a sign of several of the highest level and quality watchmaking known. I know that's a matter of taste, however if you must have the date window, then this one is it.It is interesting that Cartier has managed to release a brand new line that somehow appeals to both collectors as well as a vastly diverse subsection: the casual, or even first-time, watch buyer who has long dreamt of, and saved for, a fine luxury mechanical watch that really speaks to them. Cartier could probably lose several of the macho vintage car origin myth of this watch's design and be perfectly fine. The guilloche is allegedly inspired by the design of a radiator grill on a car, and the bolt shaped crown is designed to illicit a similar automotive theme. There is no doubt that there are watches like the Cartier Tank and Replica Cartier Santos, however the weight of all that history and provenance makes it pretty hard for someone in their 20s or 30s to really relate to their storied histories.
A panther curls around a mysterious watch, its spots and eyes of blue sapphire standing out against a background of snow-set diamonds. A water snake with turquoise, onyx and diamond scales coils around a transparent Replica watch dial. Further along, a double bracelet, one in onyx and the other set with diamonds, are interlinked like the Rings of Saturn that gives the timepiece its name.
