Introducing: The Cartier Privé Collection Cloche De Cartier, With New In-House Movements

Quick Take The Cartier Privé collection, over the past few years, has been a veritable cornucopia of enthusiast favorites. The Privé Collection is Cartier's platform for revisiting and rediscovering its historically most iconic designs – most recently, we had a wonderful revival of the genuinely fantastic Tank Asymétrique (or Losange, as it was once known) which is surely one of the most exciting and chic Tank watches of all time. There have been others preceding it, however, starting with the Crash and followed by the Cintrée and Tonneau. The newest member of the Privé Collection is perhaps a bit less well known than its predecessors but it is no less chic for that (there's that word again), and the Cloche has, within the ranks of serious Cartier enthusiasts, its own fanatically loyal sub-following. The Cloche began life in the 1920s, according to Cartier, as a jewelry watch – a brooch watch, which helps explain the idiosyncratic design. Other than the bell-shaped case ("cloche" means bell), one of the salient characteristics of the Cloche is the rotation of the dial 90º from its usual position, so that the XII is adjacent to the crown. Many brooch watches, which were worn pinned to a garment, had this configuration as it meant that if you lifted the watch to check the time, you would see the dial in the proper orientation. The Cloche became a wristwatch for the first time in 1921 (a jewelry piece, once again) and then was offered by Cartier in yellow gold in 1922. It appeared after that rather sporadically, despite its considerable charm (quartz models in 1984, again according to Cartier archives), and then, in 1995, in a limited series of 200 with Arabics and with the dial rotated to allow the watch to function as a table clock when set down off the wrist. It appeared again 2007, in yellow gold, in a limited edition of 100 watches in the Cartier Paris Collection Privé. And now we have it in the resurgent Privé Collection. The Cloche de Cartier, with the skeletonized caliber 9626 MC, in platinum with diamonds. The new model comes in yellow or pink gold, or platinum, with the hand-wound 1917 MC movement, as well as three versions with a skeletonized movement. This is the caliber 9626 MC, and that version is available at launch in pink gold, as well as in platinum with or without diamonds. All six models have the dial rotated 90º from the usual position – which means all of them can be set down on a nightstand or desk, and you can read the time off as you would from a clock. Initial Thoughts I don't think anything nowadays really competes with the Cartier Privé Collection. It is, as they say, what it is – but what it is represents an intersection of fine watchmaking heritage and sheer intelligence in design that is found nowhere else. That other brands can't really duplicate what Cartier does should not reflect negatively on them – Jaeger-LeCoultre, to pick just one example, in its own way does things that not only would be impossible, but actually inadvisable for Cartier, and vice versa. The same could be said for Lange, Patek, Audemars...pick a brand, really; it is important after all to know who you are and why people come to you. This is not to say that you cannot lay down the gauntlet and challenge your fans and enthusiasts, but to do so successfully requires a real grasp of what it is that defines you, and I think Cartier is showing a fine understanding of this in the Privé Collection (and elsewhere – the new Must de Cartier Tank watches are nothing like the Privé Collection in either intention or complexity, but they are nonetheless a link to a real piece of Cartier's history, and they are, moreover, fun , which we could all use more of these days). The Cloche de Cartier, Privé Collection is, in its own way, an exercise in rebellion – Cartier could certainly rake in the bucks doing commodity luxury, and there have been moments in its history where, as a matter of survival, or as an exercise in reaching a broader audience, or simply to survive financially, it has done exactly that. But the Cloche de Cartier is rather different. There's a guy in Spain named José Gordon who makes beef this way – not only grass-fed (as cows are meant to be) but also aged in a way that reflects patience and a respect for life, not rushing product to the market as soon as you can get a margin on it. I don't think Cartier makes an enormous amount of money on the Privé Collection – the margins, for this cash cow of the Richemont Group, are first of all in jewelry and secondly (probably?) in things like the Love bracelet which are perennially appealing and which shore up the bottom line like a little Dutch boy's thumb shores up a dike. In other words, it's unnecessary, and certainly not cynical – but it is beautiful, and in embracing its own absurdity whole-heartedly, it comes out the other side feeling not only completely lovable, but also inevitable as a design. I don't know if the Privé Collection in general, and the Cloche in particular, means Cartier's best days are behind it – and well behind it, in comparison with the efflorescence of design genius that occurred under Louis Cartier and, lest we forget, Jeanne Toussaint, who is to modern jewelry design what – I don't know, Picasso or Jackson Pollock is to painting or Mies is to architecture. You can deal with them in your work, you can try to circumvent them, you can rebel against what they mean, but you can't ignore them and expect to be taken seriously. The Cloche is tricky. It looks like a tombstone as well as a bell, though it might not have been meant that way to begin with. Time reminds us we're mortal, but the way the Cloche embodies time reminds us that something of us lasts longer than we do – and it suggests, which we all need these days, that looking back at what still sustains us aesthetically from the past is an encouraging sign of hope that the best may be yet to come. The Basics Brand: Cartier Model: Coche de Cartier, Privé Collection Case sizes: All 38.17mm x 28.75mm Dial Color: Varies with model Indexes: Printed or, in the skeletonized models, part of the movement bridge Strap/Bracelet: Black, grey, or blue alligator depending on the model The Movement Caliber: Closed dial models, 1917 MC hand-wound; skeletonized models, caliber 9626 MC Functions: Time, looking AWESOME Power Reserve: 38 hours Winding: Manual for both Frequency: 21,600 vph Jewels: 19 (1917 MC) or 25 (9626 MC) Pricing & Availability Price: Not yet available Availability: Not yet disclosed by Cartier Limited Edition: Yes; all models with 1917 MC, 100 pieces worldwide. Models with skeletonized 9626 MC, 50 each in pink gold and platinum, 10 each in platinum with diamonds. For more, cliquez ici, mon ami.The bell-shaped Cloche is Cartier's new Belle of the ball.