Rotonde de Cartier Astrorégulateur

Yesterday 17th January 2011 started in Geneva the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) 2011 with up to nineteen watch brands presenting their new products. Among the magnificent pieces of this private event you will be able to view one of the most innovative watches, Rotonde de Cartier Astrorégulateur where instead of tourbillon escapement which is used to defy gravity, an alternative solution is presented by Cartier.

The Astrorégulateur movement 9800 MC has been five years in the making and it is the object of four patent applications. The movement has been designed, developed, produced and assembled entirely within the Cartier Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds. A true technical feat, the individually numbered movement is 10.1 mm thick and boasts a diameter of 32.5 mm. It comprises 281 individual parts. Embellished with 43 jewels, the mechanism runs at the rate of 21,600 vibrations per hour and offers an 80-hour power reserve. Each movement receives 60 hours of hand finishing. The main plate is circular-grained, while the bridges are beveled, drawn and decorated with Côtes de Genève.

In the 9800 MC Astrorégulateur movement, the escapement, the oscillator and the pendular seconds have been positioned on the rotor to maintain the center of gravity in a single position. The point is, that during the day the wearer’s wrist moves in many directions and at various speeds. Thus, the escapement is subject to a variety of accelerations as the rotor spins. According to Cartier, the movements of the user’s wrist apply forces of various strengths on the entry lip of the escapement. The forces mentioned need to be corrected in order to maintain the escapement at a constant speed, which is a vital condition for perfect timekeeping.

The caliber in question serves to sport the functions of hours, minutes and seconds. They are immediate and clear on a galvanic guilloched dial that features two overlapped displays. The upper timezone shows the time through hours and minutes, indicated by sword-shaped blued steel hands. The lower one takes care of seconds, positioned on the rotor in order to maintain the centre of gravity in a single position. All of these nice touches are safely housed in a large case measuring 50mm in diameter and crafted from niobium-titanium alloy. The case is equipped with a charismatic circular-grained crown crafted in titanium and paved with sapphire cabochon.

The Rotonde de Cartier Astrorégulateur is strictly limited to 50 pieces worldwide and can be found in a black alligator leather strap coupled with a 18K white gold folding clasp.

Sources: via watchestrends and official youtube Cartier Channel