The Magician's Code

A simpler version of the mystery movement is the Rotonde de Cartier Mystery, which, instead of the tourbillon, has the hour and minute hands suspended. The calibre 9981MC is constructed under the same principle as the Double Tourbillon, with the hands driven by large crystal discs that rotate. While it sounds simple, getting to the perfect dimensions, including the thickness and construction of these discs to avoid friction, was the challenge for the watchmaking team at Cartier. In order to limit friction, the sapphire crystal discs were made to turn on fine pivots, like wheels in a gear train, instead of the traditional guide grooves in mystery clocks. The discs were also made to be lightweight at 0.56 grams, yet durable enough to pass certification tests, including more than 500 consecutive impacts, and being dropped on a hard floor from the height of one metre. The manual winding watch offers a power reserve of 48 hours, and comes in a 42mm case water-resistant to 30m, in options of 18k pink or white gold.

With these two models, Cartier emphasizes that it’s a trendsetter in watch design. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more mystery watches from other brands after this intriguing collection.

Moving on to the other new calibres, a particularly attractive one is the Ballon Bleu de Cartier Tourbillon with double jumping second timezone, a unique take on the dual time watch. The dial features a central minute hand and two jumping hour counters, one for the local time, with Arabic numeral hour markers, and the other for the home time, with Roman numeral hour markers. Adjustment is easily controlled through a pushpiece at 10 o’clock. Fitted with the manual-winding 9456 MC calibre, the watch, which is regulated by a flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock, carries the Geneva seal, which says a lot more about the quality of the watch now, with the stricter criteria that includes the case and finishing. The watch comes in a 46mm 18k white gold case with leather strap.