Welcome back. Today, we're going to be talking about one of, if not the most popular Cartier
collections, it's going to be that of the Ballon Bleu de Cartier launched in 2007.
All right. So one thing, you know, I want to start off on kind of a personal note.
The Ballon Bleu is one of the watches that's actually in my personal wishlist.
Of course, if I, when I get one of these, it's going to be between a 40 and a 44 millimeter size,
but just know that the Ballon Bleu is a collection that's quite diversified. When it comes to size,
you can get this watch in 28 millimeters, 33, 36, they've got a 37 millimeter unique edition, also
40, 42 and 44. So no matter what size wrists you have or where you are in life, or even if you're,
you know, as styles and trends have changed over the years, there is a size out there that'll fit
everybody's wrists and it'll look good, regardless of, you know, what your stature is and your built.
Now, this watch has been seen on plenty of famous people. Well, well-known, well-to-do people. You
can find this watch on the wrist of Usher. You can find it on Johnny Depp. We've seen one of the,
you know, the more lady sized pieces on Rihanna, Kate Middleton, of course,
she's kind of a fashion icon. And she even wears one of the stainless steel models. Of course,
there are other variations or configurations of metal that you can get in this, but we'll talk
about those in just a moment. Now I do want to talk about the lady size, cause not necessarily
the size, but the fact that this watch is built and designed not only for men, but for women as
well. And one of the things that we've come to find in our industry is that relative to most lady
watches out there, you know, most of them are, you know, just doused in diamonds and glamour.
They tend to be blingy and this is a watch that, they kind of strayed away from that or kept things
more simple yet still elegant. So you get all of the craftsmanship and design from the artists
at Cartier, but you don't have to worry about getting this watch just completely decked out
in gold covered in diamonds. Of course, there are variations of it available.
If you're looking for something more high-end with those precious stones and metals,
but know that the watch in and of itself does look great in stainless steel as an everyday wear.
Now, one of the most alluring elements of this watch is going to be the guilloche dial. And
so when we talk about this guilloche dial, you may have heard it before, but it has a sunburst
finish where you can see lines that radiate outward from the center point of the dial.
But if you look closely, there are these tiny little inscriptions or engravings
that make for a much greater design than just simple lines that radiate outward.
Now, when Cartier manufacturers these dials and these pieces, it is actually done by a watchmaker.
This is not a computerized or automated process that just churns out dial after dial.
The watchmaker uses a tool and in some way, like hand carves these dials. So I personally find that
to be one of the most spectacular elements of this piece, especially living in an era that is
just dominated by technology. I would just really appreciate that feature. Now, since we're on the
dial, I do want to discuss a couple more things. You can always find the Cartier secret signature,
you know, where it's imprinted the Cartier brand name is written into one of the Roman
numeral hour markers on this particular model, it's going to be located at seven o'clock.
So on the long part of what would be a seven,
you're going to actually see the word Cartier of course you have to look close. It is a very fine
print, but whenever you're out in the world, looking at one of these, it's always one of
the telltale signs of a counterfeit. If it doesn't have that secret signature on it.
Now, as I mentioned before, it is an everyday luxury watch, right? It's made
out of stainless steel. You can get them in gold, right? I said, we would discuss that,
but let's talk about that everyday use, right? It does have a chronograph function. So you can time
things as like a stopwatch function of the watch, but it is 30 meter water resistance. So that's
going to be enough for splashes. If you're washing your hands, you don't need to take your watch off.
If you're taking a shower, you're going to be okay, but we wouldn't necessarily recommend,
you know, swimming in a Ballon Bleu, or even taking a bath with one. You don't want to
necessarily submerge it, but if it gets some water on it, you don't need to be concerned
about water getting inside. And one of the brilliant features that kind of helps protect
this piece is going to be this crown guard that helps, you know, obviously keep that
blue cabochon, that's one of the signatures of Cartier style. You know, we're, we're all
probably familiar with the blue hands and the cabochon. You know, it is a, an element that is
a signature of cardia. And you can find that on this particular model, as well as, you know,
the rest of the Ballon Bleu. Now, of course this watch because it has that black dial,
it's not going to have the blue hands, but the cabochon does have that blue in it.
Now a lot of, I did some research on this piece trying to get some feedback
from, you know, society, consumers, people that have had the watch before.
And one of the most common complaints that I heard had to do with that crown guard,
you know, it's a wonderful feature. It does protect the watch and help keep, you know,
from accidentally adjusting it or, you know, manipulating the watch when you're not trying to,
but it can kind of be a little bit of a burden to clean. And that has been the number one complaint
about this piece is cleaning inside this crown guard. And of course it's a little bit too tight
of a knuck to be able to use like just a regular Q-tip, but there are a couple of things you can
do to really get in there. What I have here is what I like to call an electronic Q-tip.
Now, of course, it's not actually electronic. It's more like a Q-tip that was designed
for electronics. Now, when you're searching for these online, it is going to be something that
you will find, you know, an accessories to phones and cleaning, you know, it's,
it was designed to help clean like a charging port or like that 3.5 millimeter audio jack on,
well, not all the phones and some of them only operate bluetooth now, but you can always use
this and it fits right inside. You have no problem getting in there. If getting one of these is going
to be a little bit too much trouble, or if you need to clean it right now, and you don't have
any available, feel free to use a toothpick. You know, a wooden toothpick has its poorest. It's a
little rough on the outside because it's wood. It's not going to damage the stainless steel.
So you don't have to worry about scratching it, but you can also use the pipe cleaner. So,
you know, there's some very easy household items to use that are not a really rigorous process. You
don't need to take it to a watchmaker to simply get some conquer dust that has gathered. It is
something that you can take care of just from the comfort of your home, right in the kitchen. Now I
do want to kind of dig into some of the technical specs for more of our technical viewers out there.
This watch has the 8101 MC movement inside of it. And that's going to be a movement that was
designed by JLC. That's going to be Jaeger LeCoultre, JLC for short, how I'll refer to
it for the rest of this video, but it was designed exclusively for Cartier. Of course it is a base on
the JLC 750, which can be found in other watches, but when they designed it for Cartier, they did a
force spice things up a little bit, you know, this watch does have an exhibition case back.
So you can see inside the movement and see what's going on. And of course, because it's
Cartier it can't just be plain and simple. It's got to have some extra artistic design
elements that add beauty to the piece, and they did not shy away from that. You can just see the
phenomenal level of watchmaking and just design that goes into it is quite fascinating for a part
of the watch that you normally won't see when it's on your wrist. Now the 8101 MC does have
quite a hefty power reserve. It's going to have a 65 hour power reserve, which I happen to love.
Cause I don't, I don't want to have to, you know, be concerned about waking up and winding my watch
every day, of course I am wearing a Speedmaster Professional. So, you know, different days,
different choices. But if I'm not really trying to, you know, engage with my watch and have that,
you know, almost intimate experience on a regular basis, this is a phenomenal choice.
You know, it's a multi-day power reserve. You can throw it on a watch,
winder help keep it rounds only having to, you know, manually beef up that power reserve
every so often to keep that accurate timekeeping. Now I mentioned the 65 hour power reserve,
but there are a couple of elements that are really fascinating about the movement and what makes it
just a phenomenal piece in general. And that's going to be
the column wheel and the vertical clutch. So these are both elements that are gonna help make for a
quicker activation, a smoother transition and get a more responsive chronograph. So
those elements that I was just talking about the column wheel and the vertical clutch,
these are used when you're stopping and starting resetting. And when you're stopping something,
you're trying to time something, especially if you're trying to do it down to the second,
you know, being able to click a button and have the timing start immediately is pretty important.
You know, if there's a delay in it, you're not going to get an accurate reading. And so that,
that is one of the elements that just makes this watch more than just an everyday wear.
Of course it is an everyday piece. You've got the stainless steel version. You can get it
in two-tone. It comes in rose gold and yellow, gold and white gold, but it's a great everyday
watch one that's going to live for, you know, I guess it's not alive, but it'll last longer
than we will. You can pass these on for multiple generations and it is perfect for everyday wear.