SIHH 2013, Day One: First Look at Novelties from Cartier and IWC


Cartier_Astrotourbillon_150The 2013 Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) — the luxury watch world’s winter festival of new timepieces from more than a dozen top brands — kicks off today, and WatchTime is here to get up close and personal with the slew of new watches, many of which won’t even find their way to the States until later this year. I’ll be reporting throughout the week on our new SIHH Blog to take you inside the show and offer glimpses of some of the horological highlights (Of course, many of these will also be covered in more depth on WatchTime.com as well as in our bi-monthly magazine.)

The first brands I saw today were Cartier and IWC. Cartier, as per usual, offered an amazing number of new pieces (“novelties,” in Swiss-watch-speak), for men and ladies, ranging from impressive complications to artistic dials to high jewelry. The “masterpieces” (to use Cartier’s term) are the Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Hours and Mysterious Double Tourbillon, both concepts based on a Cartier clock made in 1912. Like that vintage clock, the watches have elements that appear to “float” inside the dial (the hands or the tourbillon). Both have in-house movements (Cartier has introduced six new in-house movements in total this year) and both bear the Geneva Hallmark.

Cartier_Mystery

Another high complication, based on Cartier’s ID One concept watch from a few years ago, is the Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon Carbon Crystal, with its anchor wheel and tourbillon bridge (and essentially, according to Cartier’s presenter, the entire escapement) made of carbon crystal.

Cartier_Astrotourbillon

There is also now a tourbillon (as well as a second-time-zone model) in Cartier’s Ballon Bleu collection, the Ballon Bleu Flying Tourbillon, with a partly skeletonized dial.

Cartier_BB_TourbillonCartier continues to release new versions — nine new references this year, of its Calibre de Chronograph, the brand’s first chrono with an in-house, two-barrel movement, including this sharp rose-gold-case model here.

Cartier_Calibre_Chrono

The ladies’ models this year all came under the umbrella theme of”Les Heures Fabuleuses” and once again, ornate animal themes were prevalent, including Cartier’s iconic panther as well as snakes, frogs, turtles, and, new this year, the mythological phoenix. Two models this year had decorative dial-side rotors in the shapes of a panther and phoenix.

Cartier_Ladies
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  1. khalid

    I like Cartier to much but I can’t buy. I’m be happy if see what a new I feeling good when I see. Good luck

    Reply
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