Cartier presents latest innovations at city show

Ti Gong

Cartier is presenting its 2021 watchmaking novelties at Watches and Wonders in the Shanghai West Bund Art Center, showcasing more than 70 watches, of which 54 are new releases.

Cartier’s four signature series — Tank, Ballon Bleu, Santos and Pasha — are all unveiling their latest releases in Shanghai.

The Tank series, featuring clean lines and pure shapes, launches an eco-green bracelet without animal materials. The strap uses waste from apples grown for the food industry in Switzerland, Germany and Italy, while still guaranteeing a high level of quality and comfort.

The production of the environmentally friendly bracelet represents a step forward in preserving the environment by reducing the carbon footprint by six times less, saving water up to 10 liters and energy up to 7 megajoules, or approximately 200 smartphone charges, compared with the manufacture of a calfskin strap.

The Ballon Bleu series has new watches with 33mm dial animations and 40mm dials to provide more options for both men and women. Ballon Bleu is created from a new vision of roundness which involves giving volume to the circle. Doubly convex, its shape strikes the perfect balance between line and volume. To avoid any breaking of the line, the sapphire crystal winding crown is integrated into the case, with the crown cap under a metal hoop at 3 o’clock protecting the blue bubble.

The Santos watch design maintains its taste for minimalism and the precision of proportions, while the Pasha series comes with a more refined silhouette, distinguished by its square within the circle, a unique chained crown, four bold Arabic numerals, and a bracelet accented by the Clous de Paris.

Visitors can have close look at Cartier’s various movements, including the Skeleton Movement and Mysterious Movement, a miniaturized mechanism transposed into wristwatches and creating unique complications that seem to be suspended in the air.

Ti Gong