Hands-On The Cartier Ronde Louis Cartier Filigree Panthers Motif Watch
The Cartier Ronde Louis Cartier Filigree Watch unveiled at the 2015 edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, presents the brand’s iconic panthers using an old technique practiced by Portuguese goldsmiths. Cartier’s Carole Forestier-Kasapi showed us different steps in the making of this watch during our most recent trip to the Maison’s new Maison des Métiers d’Art department.
The art work on the dial is an amalgam of various type of craftsmanship: goldsmithing, gemstone-setting, lacquering, engraving, jewellery-making and of course, all combined in watchmaking. For such precious handiwork a case in 18-carat yellow gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds was chosen by Cartier’s skilled craftsmen.
Cartier’s craftsmen laboured for more than a month to create this timepiece where 22-carat yellow gold and 950/1000 platinum filigree-work shape a pair of panthers with emeralds forming perfectly contoured eyes. Apple-shaped hands in 18-carat yellow gold indicate the hours and minutes functions.
Already a renowned jeweler, Cartier has long displayed its adeptness in the art of fine watchmaking and to showcase both skills, a 42 mm case is an apt size for The Ronde Louis Cartier Filigree Panthers Motif Watch. Not to be taken lightly, the new watch in the brand’s Métiers D’Art watch collection, is definitely a collector’s piece. Dressed with diamonds, the feline creatures come to life in fine filigree, fit for a sparkling and fun Gala evening.
It is the mechanical movement with manual winding, calibre 430 MC which powers the Ronde Louis Cartier Filigree Panthers Motif Watch. The key to a successful overall watch design can be attributed to the marriage of the strap with the dial. Here, a dark-blue alligator-skin strap is befitting to the starry-sky dial background.
The new Maison des Métiers d’Art is where the new timepiece is fabricated, in the Swiss city of La Chaux-de-Fonds, part of the canton of Neuchatel. In true Cartier style, the adventurous mixture of craftsmanship and a centuries-old technique, makes the Cartier Ronde Louis Cartier Filigree watch a special one, limited to a series 20 numbered piece.
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Photo Credit: Haute Time. For more information, please visit the official Cartier website. Follow Haute Time on Instagram to catch all of the new releases as they happen.
