Cartier has revealed the first timepiece in its SIHH 2018 collection, the Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Day & Night, inspired by the French design house’s iconic ‘Mystery Clocks’ that were created in the early 20th Century. Baroque Access has all the details
If the latest reveal from French fashion and design house Cartier is anything to go by, it seems that it is looking at iconic watches in its history to find inspiration. The first of Cartier’s SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Genève) 2018 collection to be revealed is the Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Day & Night, inspired by the brand’s ‘Mystery Clocks’, Cartier’s most iconic timepieces ever created, which received much acclaim when they were first produced in 1912. The new Mystery watch also features another complication that Cartier first used that same year – the day/night indicator from the Cartier’s Comet Clock.
The new Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Day & Night timepiece features a 40mm 18-karat white or pink gold case and Cartier’s signature design detail, the sapphire cabochon crown. Its dial features a circular guilloché motif at its center and there’s a sunbeam pattern to the dark brown outer part of the dial. The minutes are located on a retrograde display along the bottom half of the dial. This is read by a lone bright blue steel hand that punctuates the dial.
The top half of the dial is where the mystery Day & Night features are found. There are two complications – there’s a mystery display (you san see right through it, and mysteriously, it seems as if the ‘hands’ are not connected to the central mechanism). It uses two indicators, one showing the sun, and the other showing the moon. They depict the slow movement of the day and night along a 12-hour scale. It’s quite a unique way to show the time, but quite easy to read.
The timepiece is powered by the in-house Caliber 9982 MC, a manually wound movement that is made up of 174 different components in all, 26 of which are jewels. It also features a 48-hour power reserve.
The Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Day & Night is expected to cost around $63,000 when it goes on sale next year (be aware – prices can change before SIHH).