Celebrating Cartier style in Fine Watchmaking is the Maison's creative approach for 2014. Style is a question of elegance and balance. It is the fountain-head of constant research, supported by technical expertise with a drive that redefines and questions watchmaking conventions by reinventing traditional complications such as the perpetual calendar or by transforming the timeless Tank model. Cartier's achievements in Fine Watchmaking are the fruit of a constantly innovative approach at the service of highly distinctive aesthetics. Its past as an inventor and designer has given rise to a style that favors volume and shapes. The same drive can be seen in the Maison's technical concepts: their freedom and importance have enabled Cartier to revolutionize the representation of time with Fine Watchmaking pieces that adhere to the Manufacture's highest standards. For this 2014 edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, Cartier expresses the excellence of its craftsmanship with the launch of innovative timepieces bearing the Maison's creative seal.

The Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch is the fruit of a technical and creative ambition that for Cartier consists of bringing together two complications in a daring display. Removed from its strictly horological role, in which it serves as a guarantee of precision and prestige, a tourbillon has been incorporated into a moon phase complication, with each one dependent on the other. The watch owes its name to the stylized portrayal of the globe and the moon represented by a tourbillon. Together, they form a creative and animated world with skeletonized Roman numerals surrounding this dynamic feat of watchmaking. The moon-phase mechanism of the Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch is founded on a creative and complex design that combines a tourbillon, moon phase on demand and a second time zone. The Tourbillon mechanism is a complex complication that falls within the expertise of a limited number of watchmakers. Its main function is to fight against the effects of gravity when the watch is in a vertical position. Because it appears in its original form and exists only when its user wishes it to, the moon phase on the Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch reveals a technical creativity that is doubly innovative. By pressing the push-button situated at four o'clock on the side of the case, a panels descends and partially obscures the Tourbillon carriage. The crescent thus formed reproduces exactly the moon's shape in the sky.

The second time zone of the Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch is indicated by a 24-hour disc that was entirely redeveloped by for the calibre 9440 MC due to the sophistication of its disc display. The result of painstaking work, polished lapis lazuli is used for the dial and the moon panel on the Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch. The hours and the second time zone are surrounded by a meticulously polished grid in 18-carat white gold. A three-dimensional dial is one of the signature features of the Cartier Fine Watchmaking collection, alongside Roman numerals that are openworked and chamfered by the hand of a master decorator in a manner akin to a skeleton movement. The exceptional finishes of the 9440 MC are all the more remarkable because the semi-skeletonized bridges on the back of the movement are structured in a star shape, echoing this precious timepiece's lunar and terrestrial character on the case back. With the the Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon watch, the Maison Cartier has created a timepiece that displays an exceptional level of creativity and craftsmanship.

Technical Specifications of the Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon

Case: platinum
Diameter: 47 mm
Crystal: sapphire
Case back: sapphire
Crown: beaded in platinum set with a blue sapphire cabochon
Dial: Lapis lazuli with an 18-carat white gold grid in the form of Roman numerals
Bezel: platinum
Hands: sword-shaped blued-steel
Casing-up diameter: 47 mm
Case thickness: 16.65 mm
Strap: black alligator-skin
Clasp: double adjustable folding buckle in 18-carat white gold
Water-resistance: 30 meters / 3 bar / 100 feet
Movement: Manufacture mechanical with manual winding, calibre 9440 MC, tourbillon, second time zone, moon phase on demand
Casing-up diameter: 17¼ lines, i.e. 38.8 mm
Total diameter: 40 mm
Thickness: 5.65 mm
Number of jewels: 40
Number of parts: 362
Balance: 21,600 vibrations/hour
Power reserve: approx. 3 days
Limited series of 50 numbered pieces.

The Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire watch transforms the very essence of the perpetual calendar's functioning and appearance. The Maison's idea involves inventing a creative central display that stems from a revolutionary concept. Designed like an amphitheater, with the intention of clarifying the perpetual calendar's indications, the Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire's display is an incredible watchmaking feat. It overcomes numerous readability issues that are specific to the traditional approach to this complication, which requires the juxtaposition of twelve months, seven days, the date and the type of year in a diameter of just a few centimeters. Arranged three-dimensionally in concentric levels, the display of the perpetual calendar's functions is spread over the different levels: the day is indicated on the first. It is followed by the month on the second, which is itself surmounted by the date. Thin windows move along these tiers. The perpetual calendar's final function is indicated by a hand located on the back of watch and shows what type of year it is: a leap year or a normal year.

Consisting of gear trains, the construction of the Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire watch's movement is a watchmaking feat that solves all the functional and ergonomic problems connected with this type of complication. It breaks away from the design of traditional perpetual calendars and introduces an alternative that enables any risk of breakage to be anticipated, adjustment errors to be resolved and chronometry to be improved. Partially patented, the gear train system of the Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire's 9459 MC movement replaces the traditional lever and spring mechanisms with a gear train mechanism that substantially limits the risk of breakage when the watch is over-wound at inadvisable times. The traditional design of a perpetual calendar prohibits any manual correction several hours before and after midnight at the risk of breaking the mechanism. The adjustments made using four minuscule push-pieces on the side of the case are impractical and never clearly identified. This operating problem no longer exists with the Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire watch's movement thanks to a setting system that uses the crown.
In addition to the traditional setting of the hour and minute, the crown also controls the date and month indicators. This ease of use is further increased by the possibility of correcting the functions both forwards and backwards. Wearers of the Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire watch need no longer fear going beyond the current date as this error is easily corrected.

The Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire watch houses at its heart a flying tourbillon: a complication that is emblematic of the Fine Watchmaking collection. The Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire watch is certified "Poinçon de Genève", in accordance with the new regulations' requirements. The self-winding calibre 9459 MC is assembled and adjusted in the new Cartier Fine Watchmaking workshops located in the heart of Geneva, upstairs from the Cartier boutique on the rue de Rhône. Its finishes were carried out according to the standards of the most prestigious watchmaking certification. Combining watchmaking innovation and technical creativity, the Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire watch follows in the footsteps of the Rotonde de Cartier Astrorégulateur and Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon watches, thus taking its place as a major complication in Cartier's repertoire of watchmaking craftsmanship.

Technical Specifications of the Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire

Case: platinum
Diameter: 45 mm
Crown: beaded in platinum, set with a blue sapphire cabochon
Crystal: sapphire
Case back: sapphire
Dial: silver-colored Bezel: platinum
Hands: sword-shaped blued-steel
Casing-up diameter: 45 mm
Case thickness: 15.1 mm
Strap: black alligator-skin
Clasp: double adjustable folding buckle in 18-carat white gold
Water-resistance: 30 meters / 3 bar / 100 feet
Movement: Manufacture mechanical with automatic winding, calibre 9459 MC, tourbillon and perpetual calendar with circular display, "Poinçon de Genève" certified timepiece
Casing-up diameter: 14 lines, i.e. 31.38 mm
Total diameter: 32 mm
Thickness: 8.1 mm
Number of jewels: 51
Number of parts: 382
Balance: 21,600 vibrations/hour
Power reserve: approx. 50 hours
Limited series of 100 numbered pieces.