This year 2012 makes it 100 years ago that Cartier introduced the Model A Mystery clock, a small table clock with 8 days movement.
so perfect timing for the King of Mystery timepieces, to release some new and exiting developments.

Since the time that the first Mystery clock was made, by clock maker Maurice Coüet for Cartier and introduced in 1912, Cartier build a collection of extremely exclusive Mystery clocks, that were available around 1920 – 1930. But since then the brand has not rest on it’s laurels.

In 1931 Cartier succeeded to reduce the concept of the Mystery clock into really small dimensions, that would fit a watch, which resulted in the launch of The square Mystery Pocket Watch, with a Le Coultre mechanical movement. The case with it’s cut corners had a flat notched, recessed winding crown, based at 12 o’clock, on the back of the case.

The Double Time Mystery Travel Clock is fairly recent, dates back to 1997 and was one of the exceptional products, that was designed for the 150th. anniversary of Cartier.
The rectangle case has a polished white-gold strut cover and four brilliant cut diamonds on the corners. The diamond located close to 5 o‘clock, was to open the case. Just like the Mystery Pocket Watch, the Travel Clock had a flat notched, recessed winding crown on the back of the case. The movement was also rectangle cut-cornered and had a double time zone mechanism.

Nine years later, in 2006 to be exact, Cartier presented the impressive Santos Mystery watch. A limited edition model that was released in palladium and in pink gold, while both versions were also available with diamonds.
Sensational watch, but since the production was limited for all variations, they are not often seen in the wild.

Luckily there has been changed a lot at Cartier, since the production in La Chaud-de- Fonds was expanded tremendously. The manufacture started to produce complete movements and most parts of a watch, in house. The watch that benefits a lot from that growth, is the new Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Hours watch, that was just introduced at the SIIHH. Finally a Mysterious time piece, that is not produced in a small, or limited edition!
For those who have always been interested in vintage Cartier time pieces like the Mysterious clocks and watches, this Mysterious Hours Rotonde has it all.
DNA from the past combined with a high tech movement, build with the newest techniques.

Cartier developed especially a new In House caliber for the model, that was build around the window with the floating hands. But the watch makers in La Chaud-De-Fonds had to overcome difficulties like driving of the sapphire discs with the minute hand and the one with the hour hand plus the friction between them. Instead of adopting the system that was used in the vintage Mystery clocks, it was decided that they should turn on light pivots, actually like a wheels in a gear train.

If you ever wondered why Cartier developed the ID-I and ID-II prototypes; this is where part of the techniques came from, the D.R.I.E technology (Deep Reactive Ion Etching)

Even more mysterious is the platinum Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Double Tourbillon. With a case size of 45mm, the watch is a little larger, but visible só impressive, that the extra three millimeters don’t really matter anymore. The flying tourbillon turning once on it’s own axis, every minute, is candy to the eye. Completely free moving, in a see thru round chamber, without any visible connection to a gear train.

These new timepieces prove again that, that Cartier has an enormous experience, in developing Mysterious watches and clocks. The new In House calibers, developed for these Mysterious watches, passed all the heavy testing stages, like for instance, the drop-test on a hard surface, which make these Rotonde Mysterious watches not more fragile than any other watch in the collection.