Cartier has extended it brilliance to its first minute repeater, on display in New York – the Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon. Five years in the making, this exquisite piece will surely be one of the highlights on SIHH 2012 in Geneva. It goes without saying that minute repeaters are some of the priciest and most rarely seen complications in all of modern day horology.
The Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon
This watch, with its 45 mm diameter and available in titanium or in pink gold, has a 9402 MC movement, 447 parts and 47 jewels, and bears the Geneva Seal – the mark of its impeccable quality of craftsmanship. It will be appreciated for its incredibly light weight, achieved through the extremely delicate nature of its mechanical parts, and will be proud to demonstrate the clarity and power of its strikes to whoever cares to listen. Titanium was used for the case because it offers the highest gong mass to case mass ratio, allowing for optimal ressonance when the repeater is activated ((68 decibels in titanium and 63 in rose gold). You’ll also notice that this repeater is not slide activated, but instead activated with a push-button.
What is perhaps most interesting is that Cartier actually designed this watch to be water resistant to 30 meters.
Proposed in a numbered limited edition of 50 models in titanium and 50 models in pink gold, this new Cartier creation also exists in a version set with baguette-cut diamonds. According to Cartier, only 20 of these watches can be produced per year. The price will be roughly €220,000 ($287,000) in titanium, and €225,000 ($295,000) in pink gold.
The Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon
Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon watch, calibre 9402 MC, Geneva seal
- Case: titanium
- Diameter: 45 mm
- Crown: beaded titanium, set with a sapphire cabochon
- Crystal: sapphire
- Case back: sapphire
- Water-resistance: 30 metres / 100 feet / 3 bars
- Dial: white, galvanised, guilloché, silvered open-work grid with sunray effect, black transferred Roman numerals
- Hands: sword-shaped in blued steel
- Strap: black alligator skin
- Clasp: double adjustable folding clasp in 18-carat white gold
- Movement: Manufacture mechanical, with manual winding, calibre 9402 MC, certified Geneva Seal, flying tourbillon and minute repeater
- Casing-up diameter: 14 ¾ lines, 33.4 mm
- Total diameter: 39.7 mm
- Thickness: 9.58 mm
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