Ballon Bleu de Cartier grand modèle décor singe

In the great tradition of artistic crafts…
 
A pioneer for more than 160 years, Cartier has always placed the artistic crafts at the very heart of its creations. For the last decade, this rich heritage has been particularly honoured by the watchmaking marvels in the Cartier Art collection. These unique watches preserve, revive and reinvent rare areas of expertise that are sometimes forgotten.
 
This year, six new creations testify to a desire to go even further, beyond the limits of an era that has passed, to project the nobility of the artistic crafts into today's world. Reinterpreting and adapting these crafts around stones, enamel, engraving and wood has given birth to a new epoch.
 
Loyal to its inherent sense of creative craftsmanship, Cartier proposes a magical menagerie that showcases this unusual union of artisanal skills and watchmaking expertise. These artistic crafts enrich and complement each other, providing new realms of creativity.
 
Whether at the Cartier Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds or in the extraordinary setting of private workshops, Cartier Art watches are brought to life in the hands of outstanding craftsmen. They are exceptional pieces imbued with a passion for craftsmanship, for limits surpassed and for challenges resolved; such perfection and beauty in workings so infinitely small are truly astounding.
 
Time no longer matters; the hands work on, producing intaglio engravings, gold cloisonné creations, stone mosaics, overlays of enamel, wood marquetry, and so on, like a poem reeled off by the tips of fingers.
 
Emotion is most certainly in the air.
 

Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch, large model, monkey motif in grand feu champlevé enamel, set with cognac diamonds

When the radiant palette of champlevé enamel enraptures the Cartier menagerie, this precious area of expertise works its magic.
 
Champlevé enamel is applied to the cells engraved by the craftsman according to the design. Several operations and firings at around 800°C (~ 1,470°F) are required to create a single dial. The final image emerges after more than 36 hours of highly precise work, brightening up the silhouette that is flush with the enamel.
 
Passionate creativity fashioned by boldness and freedom has given rise to this Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch, which is worn as an affirmation of gentle yet confident femininity with its bezel set entirely with white diamonds. It houses a monkey with a coat of cognac diamonds, drawn from life and set in a decor of leaves in 8 colours of champlevé enamel.