Clocks and Wonders, Day 2: Total Immersion, Between Illusion and Reality

Cartier goes back in time

Come to Cartier, who dons his magician’s cloak to give us a different approach to time. The Santos Dumont Rewind watch tells the time in a completely unexpected way, thanks to a movement that turns the hands in the opposite direction… It’s like we’re going back in time. The Santos Dumont has been reinvented with peacock blue, olive green or brown gray lacquered dials. Other notable points: The Cartier Privé collection welcomes the Tortue Chronographe Monopoussoir; a single pusher activates the three chronograph functions, and the Baignoire porte-jonc is presented in slightly more generous proportions. The house enjoys casting its jeweler’s eye on its watchmaking repertoire. In the Cartier kennels, the family of animal watches grows with iconic models such as Panther or crocodile or tiger watches. More abstract, tiger jewelry watches in rose gold or rhodium-plated white gold are combined with diamonds, black lacquer and rubies, pained garnets or black spinels. Finally, Refection plays with the boundaries of perception, between illusion and reality. At first glance, a gorgeous open bracelet. On closer inspection, we discover that the jewel unfolds into a face-to-face meeting between the delicate dial and the polished gold mirror, where time seems to run backwards.

Diving to the bottom of the sea

Let’s go back to earth… or rather, to the underwater depths. Constantly reinvented, Zenith’s Defy collection now includes its dive watch, the Defy Extreme Diver, waterproof to 600m. Staying true to the aesthetics of the line, this latest addition is ready to withstand extreme conditions such as ice, water or fog, in particular thanks to the use of titanium with a significant weight/strength ratio of the material. Another star of the 2024 vintage? The Defy Revival 13648, part of Zenith’s latest approach, consists of relaunching some of the most iconic references in its history. This sports watch with a retro charm, in a general steel look, has a diameter of 37 mm to fit all wrists.

Mont Blanc House invites us to 4,810 meters below sea level, the opposite of Mont Blanc’s 4,810 meters. After exploring the highest peaks, the house presents the Iced Sea 0 Oxygen Deep 4810 watch in titanium… The qualities of titanium have not escaped Bell & Ross, which launches the new BR-X5 Black Titanium. Another star in 2024. BR 05 Black Ceramic in full black look. Perfect for a modern wardrobe.

Ready to wear

Tag Heuer returns to fine watchmaking with the Monaco Split Second, its first wristwatch with a mechanical split-seconds chronograph; this feature that used to be on pocket watches. Featherweight 85 grams, including 30 grams for the movement, this numbered piece is offered in red and blue with the option to personalize the colored elements and the fluctuating weight message. More affordable: the new Carrera Chronograph ‘Panda’, 39mm in steel, or the Tag Carrera Date 36mm versions, including a two-tone model in steel and copper that we’ll never retire anytime soon.

Watches that are easy to wear every day. this is Frederic Constant’s whole approach to revisiting his classics. The steel cases of the Classic Date Manufacture and Classic Moonphase Date Manufacture have been reduced from 42mm to 40mm in diameter, while the dial, which is available in several colors, has been refined for a more contemporary style.

Redesigning a bestseller to bring it into the spirit of the times, here’s what Oris has done to introduce the new generation of its Aquis models. Every detail has been reworked for a more elegant style while maintaining the DNA of the collection.

Finally, the unclassifiable Ulysse Nardin also revisits its icon, its watch without a dial, hands or crown. In titanium, the Freak S Nomad is available with a “ballistic” anthracite bracelet or matte anthracite alligator, matching the sand color of the rotating guilloché hour disc with a “diamond dot” pattern.