Introducing the Cartier Masse Mystérieuse
The Masse Mystérieuse watch brings together two of the Maison’s watchmaking signatures: the mysterious movement and the skeleton. Share
With the Cartier Masse Mystérieuse everything, right down to the technology, is infused with design and aesthetics. Since the mystery clocks first appeared in the 1910s, the movement has not only been miniaturised to fit watch cases but, for this new creation, it has also been reimagined to make the oscillating weight a real ornament.
With its fascinating aesthetics, the Calibre 9801 MC is a new movement that ensures the effects of gravity do not affect the chronometer. The result of nearly eight years of work at the Cartier Manufacture, where it was designed, developed, manufactured and assembled, this movement has now been filed for a patent. It took five different constructions before a prototype could be launched, with two further prototypes needed to develop the final version of the calibre.
On the Masse Mystérieuse watch, the hands float in the space of the case, without being connected to any gears. More than that: the whole movement also seems weightless. All components that receive energy from the movement, transmission and regulation are integrated in the rotor. The rotor itself is skeletonised to make this moving spectacle visible.
In the centre, an ultra-sophisticated differential system – borrowed from the automotive industry – has been integrated into the movement to prevent the time display from being caught in the mass. This is the complexity of this innovation, a true technical feat that comes to life at the slightest touch of the wearer and seamlessly displays the time to the rhythm of the hands in the void.
The most technical and complex piece ever developed by the Manufacture’s watchmakers keeps its manufacturing secrets to itself. You can only imagine the degree of precision with which the watchmaking experts calculated the movements carried out by each of the cogs so they could fit into the reduced space of the rotor.
Unlike a tourbillon, the mysterious rotor uses an innovative principle that ensures the balance wheel always remains in the same position as the watch. In fact, the rotor does not rotate in one direction and at a constant speed like the tourbillon, but in both directions at an irregular speed.
Price available on request
Technical Specifications
- 43.5mm x 12.64mm
- Skeletonised dial
- Platinum case
- Crown set with ruby cabochon
- Semi-matt dark grey and black alligator leather straps
- In-house Calibre 9801 MC, manual-winding with a power reserve of approximately 42 hours
- Limited edition of 30 pieces
