Born in 1885, Maurice Coüet was distinguished by his outstanding craftsmanship and insatiable inventiveness. He based his ideas on mathematical principles, with which the watchmaker brought about a real revolution at Cartier Replica. He was also fascinated by mechanical illusion. Coüet based his work on the “Horloges mystérieuses” by Nicolas Grollier de Servières, born in 1593. These were already considered ticking wonders of the world in the 17th century. The young watchmaker also studied earlier examples by Robert-Houdin (1805-1871) and Guilmet. In 1913, he was able to present the first “Pendule Mystérieuse” to his employer Cartier.
The secret of floating hands
These and later creations were fascinating because their drive is not initially discernible. The hands appear to rotate in a vacuum. Only at second glance does it become apparent that these are attached to externally toothed glass plates. The power transmission from the clockwork in the case base was achieved by a spiral system of axes rotating in lateral columns.
As if woven from moonbeams
The French “Gazette des Guten Tones” reported delightedly in 1925 about “wonders of the art of watchmaking”. “Unreal and as if woven from moonbeams, they reveal the mystery of time,” it says flowery. But not only the watches themselves, but also the prices were exorbitant. These were justified by the elaborate manufacturing and precious decorations, for example with precious stones. But it was precisely this, and their rarity, that enticed wealthy customers from all over the world to buy the probably fewer than ninety examples that were made between 1913 and 1930.
Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Double Tourbillon Mystérieux
The year was 2013 and the 100th anniversary of the mysterious pendulum clock, which brought the art of the illusionary hour and minute indication to the wrist in the Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Double Myster line. For this occasion, chief watchmaker Carole Forestier and her team had developed two versions: In the simpler version, two hands appear to float completely freely in space. This is made possible – similar to back then – by two sapphire glass discs positioned one above the other and interlocked on the outside. Both are integrated into the hand-wound caliber 9981MC with 48 hours of power reserve built around it.
Watch with mysterious double tourbillon
The top model with the manufacture caliber 9454 MC is at least two steps above. Its unique selling point is the mysterious double tourbillon. This is where the “flying” tourbillon titanium bogie comes into its own. To compensate for the negative influences of gravity, it completes a complete rotation per minute. The drive does not appear to be connected to the finely decorated hand-wound movement.
The supporting element is an anti-reflective sapphire glass disc with external teeth. The movement sets it in motion with the help of a drive mechanism that is invisibly mounted on the side. Accelerating the transparent carrier plate by five times the value would have required 25 times the energy. As is usual with tourbillons, every hundredth of a gram of weight counted. The three-armed cage with the rate-regulating components therefore weighs 0.28 grams. The ring balance oscillates inside at three hertz. It therefore completes 21,600 semi-oscillations every hour. The 35.5 millimeter, five millimeter movement needs to be manually supplied with fresh energy after 52 hours at the latest.
Further development
During Watches & Wonders 2015, Cartier presented the next technical mystery. The classic version of the mechanism with two hand discs can be found in a case of the Clé type introduced at the beginning of 2015. This has a unique winding and hand setting crown reminiscent of a key.