Cartier

Last year Cartier launched at Calibre de Cartier, a new design intended to be the flagship men's sports watch. The model has been a hit, especially amongst buyers who previously would not have bought a Cartier because of the perception that they are too formal or feminine. Aside from the aesthetics, the other key attraction of the Calibre is the 1904 MC calibre, the first in-house automatic movement from the brand. But the Calibre de Cartier was only available with an alligator strap, which limited its appeal in some quarters, especially for a watch designed to be sporty.

Cartier has since remedied that with the Calibre de Cartier on bracelet, launched at SIHH 2011 in January. The bracelet models are just hitting the boutiques now.

All the Calibre de Cartier models - steel, steel and gold, and all gold - are available on the bracelet. The bracelet has a simple design, with alternating large and small links with brushed and matte finishing. And like all bracelet bracelets it is hefty and well finished (though admittedly I think the finishing on the Santos bracelet is a small step up). 

Here it is in steel: 

And in rose gold: 

And in steel and rose gold:

 

Each bracelet link is also curved to match the lines of the lugs. The links are fixed with a pair of screws.

The clasp is a solid double fold with push buttons.

Cartier makes these bracelets in-house at La Chaux-de-Fonds. The raw components are machined here.

And then deburred by hand.

Before being given their final finish by hand.

Now all that's missing is a rubber strap for the Calibre de Cartier. 

- SJX

This message has been edited by SJX on 2011-04-15 21:39:19

of bracelets in general. Bracelet plus a good size watch is a little heavy for me.  This is just my opinion, but the Calibre is my least favorite Cartier men's model.  It seems to me that in an attempt to be more "masculine" the watch loses some of the style that I associate with Cartier.  I really like the Santos, Pasha, Rotonde, Ballon Bleu, Tank, etc.  I think all these models have a better case design and overall style.  Not really pertinent to the post, I was just thinking about this as I was looking at the pictures.  As always, thanks for the pictures and info.

Stewart

at least the first half of your response: "be more "masculine". They'd insist this is still Cartier style though.

- SJX

Not exactly my 'cup o'tea' either, but definitely see the Rolex-y influence on the bracelet.  Just wish the rose gold and stainless bracelet was all rose gold down the middle, the 'every other link is gold' makes it a bit clown-ish.  Great dial and movement, variety is the spice of life, eh?  Thanks!     ^_^

The bracelet is certainly Oyster inspired, though that's not entirely fair as the Oyster bracelet is so elementary anything with square links looks similar.

The alternating gold/steel links are a good idea I think, if it's a band of gold all the way down it would look to much in comparison to the case which only has the gold bezel.

- SJX

Thanks for the great look behind the scenes, SJX.

Everytime someone mentions a watch has good finishing what does it actually means?

The shine of the metal--The quality? What do I look out for to inspect for finishing?

*New at these watch concepts so thanks in advance for the education!

This message has been edited by xsw on 2011-04-17 08:28:01

There are couple of things in my opinion. They include the fineness/consistency of the brushed finish, whether the edges are bevelled and polished, the finish on the underside of the bracelet.

Finishing is of course a separate issue from construction of the bracelet, that depends on the type of links, how they are secured, the clasp etc.

- SJX

say... JLC bracelet finishing for example.....

I find Cartier bracelets have more complex finishing, e.g. polished bevelled edges with brushed top for the Santos bracelet, but some JLC bracelet have fairly intricate construction e.g. the Reverso bracelet with seven links across. However I think JLC has discontinued the very fine bracelets in favour of simpler ones with larger and fewer links across.

- SJX

While you do not show the Calibre de Cartier in black steel, I had a chance to see it at one of their boutiques. I was surprised to discover that the number XII in that particular watch is rendered in bright white color, unlike the one I have, which has the XII in a more subltle rendering.

Is that a change in their design ?

Thanks.

The steel model with black dial has the XII filled with black lacquer. I do not believe there is a model with the XII in white lacquer.

- SJX

and I saw it at the Cartier store in San Francisco, as well as in Geneva.

The black dial with white XII is the new dial which was just launched to replace the old one.

- SJX

Thank you for your replies. This is the one I saw. Quite frankly, I think that the one with the XII in black is more subdued and elegant, giving the watch both a sporty and dressy look. In my opinion the white XII cheapens it.

when I saw the whole bracelet collection the other day. I only glanced at the black dials, because I like the white dial versions better. I will take a closer look at the new black dial variants soon.

- SJX

I have come to a boutique in Sydney to try on this watch in black dial with leather strap. I like how the case fit on my small wrist, it felt very comfortable to wear and that made me fall in love with it in the first try. But I'm worried about the water resistance of this one, it only has 30m water resistance...  i think i'm going to get this one in steel bracelet because it can last longer than the leather strap when i go out with my bike. Please let me know if this Calbre de Carier can "live" after a heavy rain while I'm on the road with my bike without anything to cover it or do i have to put a plastic in my pocket? so if it's raining, i just take the watch off my wrist and put it into the plastic bag

Rain, washing hand etc, is not a problem for the watch. But as you rightly point out the leather strap does not take well to water. If you do get the strap wet best to let it dry out for a day or two before wearing it again.

- SJX

When i went to Cartier boutique to try on the Cablire de Cartier, i also went to Tag Heuer to try on a Grand Carrera and i asked them about the water resistance, they said 30m water resistance is like no water contact at all. All you can do with that watch is washing hand and go through some light rain but if it's a heavy rain, who know what will happend to the watch because it's like your watch is taking a long shower when you wear your watch and ride in a heavy rain, it's what the Tag Heuer guy said to me. He also said that their Tag Heuer watches are normally produced at 100m water resistance so i don't have to worry about my watch in most condition. Unfortunately i felt in love with the Cablire de Cartier so i couldn't get what he said back then and i also intend to buy the Cablire de Cartier in leather strap so i can remind myself to take special care of it.
One more thing to add to the Cablire de Cartier, the Luminescent of Cartier is better than Tag Heuer. It's much brighter in the dark.

Strictly speaking 30 m is a rating for pressure resistance, i.e. the watch has been tested to equivalent 30 m of water pressure under static conditions. Usually watch companies test a bit more, for instance 50 or 100 m equivalent, just to be safe.

A heavy rain, even a heavy tropical rain, is all right as long as the seals in the watch are intact, which is not a problem for a newish watch. Even taking a shower, with cold water and no soap (hot water can cause seals to expand and soap can reduce the stickiness of the seals), is probably all right, though not recommended.

- SJX

Thank SJX, your information is really helpful. Hope i can take some wrist shot soon

nt

No message body

Nice,
But a thought that came to mind...
... regarding the steel and gold watch bracelet, I'd have thought it made far more sense to keep the center links of the strap made of harder wearing, steel and reserve the gold parts for the parts that don't 'mesh' and won't wear half as quickly as the connecting links that swivel.
Cartier seems to have done the exact opposite on these bracelets, using softer gold for parts that will see the most wear due to friction, and steel for those that will not wear much.
I wonder if this is a case of form over function?
Rishad

One way of preventing excess wear and tear on gold links is to line them with a more durable material, perhaps even plastic, so that the spring bar or tube only comes into contact with the lining. And to prevent stretching it can be done by making the link sold, as opposed to hollow. I am not certain of the exact link construction of the Calibre de Cartier bracelet but I reckon it's something similar. I will find out. 

- SJX

Thank you for your great forum..

I wish to ask you how to inspect the case finishing including the dial and the exposed side of the movement on the back?

Thanks with best regards

That is something for a very long article but a few things you can look at for the dial include the quality of the printing (sharpness, thickness), quality of the indices (whether they are applied, precisely cut shapes), hands (thickness, shape, colour if blue).

- SJX

Thanks

Looks tacky, big and definitely not Cartier. I can understand they want to do a sporty watch to sell, but this is dilutive to the brand. Santos 100 was such a masculine angular Cartier. Ballon Bleu was a Dandy Man's Cartier. Roadster was very unique. All three had very classic symmetrical faces. The face on these Calibre watches is a tacking together of frankenstein elements that have no cohesion. And the giant clunky chain is horrible, magnifyin the chunky oddness of the watch. It's one is really like out of the hood noveau riche rapper with gold grill teeth watch or maybe some coal miner boss out of China. Its definitely not as iconic as Royal Oak vs. Jules Audemars. They should have gone more towards tech rugged sporty direction like ceramic Bell and Ross or put out a case centered aroudn the technology of the ID One.  And all this frustration is all coming from a Cartier owner who has invested more than $100,000 in the maison's watches.