Clé de Cartier

SIHH 2015  

CARTIER  

CLÉ DE CARTIER  

INTRINSIC TO CARTIER’S HISTORY AS A CREATIVE WATCHMAKER IS A SPIRIT OF INNOVATION. A PIONEERING ETHOS THAT HAS NOT JUST BROUGHT ABOUT NUMEROUS TECHNICAL ADVANCES, BUT ALSO ENGENDERED GROUND-BREAKING NEW FORMS: THE SQUARE FOR SANTOS, THE RECTANGLE FOR TANK. . . THE RESULT IS A LINE OF EMBLEMATIC TIMEPIECES THAT HAVE NOT JUST CREATED A NEW AESTHETIC, BUT ALSO STOOD THE TEST OF TI ME. CREATIVITY, PASSION AND PURE EXCELLENCE ARE THE KEYS TO A SUCCESS THAT HAS ENDURED FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS. THE SAME QUALITIES AT THE VERY HEART OF CLÉ DE CARTIER.  

BEHIND SIMPLICITY OFTEN LIES PURE VIRTUOSITY  

A SIMPLE CURVE
A CARTIER TIMEPIECE IS ALWAYS A WORK IN THREE DIMENSIONS, A QUASI-ARCHITECTURAL EXERCISE. THE MAISON HAS TRADI TIONALLY PLACED GREAT EMPHASIS ON THE VOLUMETRIC  QUALITIES OF ITS DESIGNS, CREATING MODELS CHARACTERIZED BY STRONG LINES AND DISTINCTIVE FORMS. CLÉ DE CARTIER IS NO EXCEPTION. IN ONE GRACEFUL SWOOP, IT INTRODUCES A NEW ELEMENT INTO THE MAISON’S WATCHMAKING VOCABULARY: THE TIGHTLY-DRAWN CURVE. IN PROFILE, IT IS ARCHED, STREAMLINED AND SLEEK, ORGANIC AND ERGONOMIC. ITS SENSUAL SHAPE FITS SNUGLY TO THE WRIST, PROVIDING EASE AND CONGENIALITY TO THE WEARER. IN TRUE CARTIER STYLE, IT FEELS AS GOOD AS IT LOOKS. PERFECTLY POISED TO ONE SIDE, THE ELEMENT THAT GIVES THE NEW MODEL ITS NAME: ITS JEWEL-LIKE, KEY-LIKE CROWN.  

RE-THINKING A SIMPLE SHAPE
FOR THE CONCEPTION OF CLÉ DE CARTIER, THE CHALLENGE WAS CLEAR: TO CREATE A NEW FORM BASED ON A PERFECT CIRCLE. A TASK THAT MAY AT FIRST APPEAR EFFORTLESS. BUT, WHAT SEEMS STRAIGHTFORWARD IS OFTEN DECEPTIVELY SO. THE RESULT IS A FEAT OF SUBTLETY AND RESTRAINT. SHAPES ARE  PARED DOWN AND REDUCED TO THEIR ESSENCE. EVERYTHING IS A QUESTION OF PRECISION, BALANCE AND PROPORTION. GREAT  MASTERY WAS EMPLOYED TO CREATE A SEAMLESS FLOW, AN ELEGANT ECONOMY AND A HARMONIOUS WHOLE. SHARP EDGES WERE ELIMINATED. THE BEZEL IS GENTLY ROUNDED, THE HORNS  SMOOTHLY TAPERED. EACH COMPONENT UNITES TO CONJURE UP AN INTANGIBLE PERFECTION THAT IS AT ONCE SURPRISING, INTUITIVE AND UNIVERSAL. IT IS AS IT SHOULD BE, AS IF IT WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO EXIST.  

PURE LINES. TIMELESS ELEGANCE. A NOVEL FORM. A UNIVERSAL APPEAL. INNOVATION. CREATIVITY. ARTISTIC MASTERY. AN ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH.   PARED-DOWN AESTHETIC. PRECISION. A CONTEMPORARY SPIRIT. SUBTLE DETAILS. APPARENT SIMPLICITY. ULTIMATE SOPHISTICATION. A NEW GESTURE.   

A SIMPLE REVOLUTION: RE-INVENTING THE CROWN
CARTIER HAS A RICH HISTORY OF CREATING INNOVATIVE CROWNS AND CLÉ DE CARTIER FIRMLY UPHOLDS THAT HERITAGE. THIS TIME, IT IS NOT ONLY ONE OF THE WATCH’S MOST DISTINCTIVE FEATURES, BUT ALSO THE INSPIRATION FOR ITS NAME. ‘CLÉ’ IN FRENCH MEANS KEY, AND THE CROWN’S RESEMBLANCE TO ONE IS UNMISTAKABLE. THE ACT OF RESETTING THE TIME AND DATE INTRODUCES A NEW GESTURE TO THE WORLD OF WATCHMAKING —ONE THAT RECALLS THE TRADITIONAL TURNING OF A KEY TO WIND UP A CLOCK. ITS SIZEABLE DIMENSIONS MAKE THE CROWN REMARKABLY EASY TO HANDLE. BUT, FUNCTIONALITY IS NOT ITS SOLE ASSET. IT IS ALSO AN EXQUISITE OBJECT IN ITS  OWNRIGHT. ELONGATED AND PURE, IT IS ADORNED WITH A  SAPPHIRE THAT IS NOT SET IN A CLASSICAL MANNER. INSTEAD, IT IS INGENIOUSLY INSERTED TO REMAIN FLUSH WITH THE METAL SURROUNDING IT.  

A SIMPLE CLICK
THE NEW INDEXED WINDING MECHANISM COMBINES BOTH  FACILITY AND CONVIVIALITY. SPECIALLY DEVELOPED WITH USER-FRIENDLINESS IN MIND, IT INCORPORATES A SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS THE TIME TO BE SET WITH GREAT EASE. AFTER MAKING  ADJUSTMENTS, IT IS POSSIBLE TO PUSH THE CROWN BACK IN  PLACE AND RETURN IT TO ITS VERTICAL POSITION WITHOUT THE HANDS MOVING—AN APPARENTLY SIMPLE GESTURE MASTERED THANKS TO CARTIER’S CONSUMMATE SAVOIR-FAIRE. AND AN EXERCISE ACCOMPANIED BY A REASSURING SOUND THAT  ENHANCES THE SENSORIAL EXPERIENCE. THE ACT OF BOTH TURNING THE CROWN AND PUSHING IT BACK IN ACTIVATES A GENTLE CLICKING NOISE. A SOUND WITH ECHOES OF  CONGENIALITY, QUALITY AND THE COMPLEX INNER WORKINGS OF THE FINEST TIMEPIECES.  

A SIMPLE STEP: A NEW IN-HOUSE MOVEMENT
COMBINING CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY AND IN-DEPTH EXPERTISE, THE NEW MOVEMENT WAS DEVELOPED, FABRICATED AND ASSEMBLED BY THE CRAFTSMEN OF THE CARTIER MANUFACTURE IN SWITZERLAND. ITS NAME - 1847 MC - WAS NOT CHOSEN BY CHANCE. THE NUMERALS INDICATE THE YEAR OF THE MAISON’S CREATION. WITH A 25.6 DIAMETER, IT WAS IMAGINED ACCORDING TO THE SAME DESIGN PRINCIPLES AS THE CASE ITSELF: A PARED-DOWN APPROACH AND A FOCUS  ON EFFICIENCY. THE INCORPORATION OF A PARTICULARLY RAPID BARREL PROVIDES IT WITH TREMENDOUS CHRONOMETRIC STABILITY. ITS AUTOMATIC MECHANISM WITH A DUAL-DIRECTION WINDING MECHANISM IS ENDOWED WITH GREAT ROBUSTNESS AND DURABILITY THANKS TO A SPECIALLY CONCEIVED LEVER  SYSTEM. DECORATED WITH “VAGUES DE GENÈVE”, IT BOASTS A  SEMI-INSTANTANEOUS DATE INDICATOR AND A 42-HOUR POWER RESERVE TOO.  

SIMPLE HARMONY
THERE IS A CERTAIN AUDACITY TO THE CLÉ DE CARTIER COLLECTION FOR MEN. A LOOK THAT EXUDES SERENE STRENGTH AND SELF-ASSUREDNESS. A DESIGN THAT REA CHES OUT TO THOSE WHO HAVE GRASPED THAT THE ESSENCE OF LIFE IS TO BE FOUND IN EQUILIBRIUM, CLARITY AND RESTRAINT. THOSE WHO EMBODY A QUIET CONFIDENCE AND A TRANQUIL FORCE. A MAN WHO HAS NOTHING TO PROVE. WHO SIMPLY APPRECIATES BEAUTY FOR ITS INTRINSIC VALUE.  

SIMPLE ELEGANCE
A FINE BALANCE BETWEEN STRENGTH AND GRACE. THAT IS THE SUBTLE EQUATION FULLY EMBODIED BY THE WOMEN’S COLLECTION. THE CASE’S PARED-DOWN LINES LEND A SOBER SOPHISTICATION, WHILE THE FLUID ROUNDED FORMS ADD A DISTINCTLY TACTILE, SENSUOUS NOTE ACCEN TUATED BY DIAMONDS SET FLUSH TO THE CASE, MAKING THEM SILKILY SMOOTH TO THE TOUCH.