The Rise And Fall Of Fine Watchmaking At Cartier: It's Been Surprisingly Complicated

Over the last 20 years, Cartier has developed and launched an extensive range of high-end men's watches: these included the Collection Privée Cartier Paris from 1998 until 2008 followed by the Fine Watch Making Collection that was in existence from 2008 until 2018 While the Collection Privée Cartier Paris was the definitive illustration of a time of forgotten elegance, the Fine Watch Making Collection, despite its extremely high quality and finishing, became one of the best examples of a disaster in the trend of pretentious haute horlogerie of the last decade While the Collection Privée Cartier Paris line was much appreciated and even hard to find when the models were freshly released, two factors made Cartier change its vision and plan for the series.

When the first pieces of the Fine Watchmaking Collection were presented with great ceremony at the 2008 SIHH, Collection Privée Cartier Paris slipped silently into oblivion During the ten years of the Fine Watch Making collection, Cartier released amazing complications in the Rotonde line including the Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon, the Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon, and the Rotonde de Cartier Astrorégulateur, proving that La Maison can make any kind of movement no matter how complicated While there is nothing wrong with that - both Richemont and Cartier are in the business of making a profit after all - and it is still up to the customer to buy or not, I feel it would be nice if Cartier would make it less obvious.

Quick Facts Cartier Ballon Bleu Flying TourbillonCase: 39 x 11.4 mm, pink gold, sapphire cabochon on crown. . Source