If you're looking for high complication watchmaking without breaking the bank,
this Cartier Rotonde Retrograde GMT might just be the answer.
Fresh from the Showcase here at SwissWatchExpo. We've got what is really one of my favorite
watches. A lot of you might know if you've talked to me on the phone when you've called in here to
the sales center, that I used to be a Cartier boutique director for many years before I came
here. And so this watch has a definite soft spot in my heart because I absolutely love this watch
what Cartier has done over the years is they have recognized the fact that their customers
deserve the absolute best of everything. So many years ago, they provided their customers watch
cases that they designed and manufactured with movements by companies like Jaeger LeCoultre and
Vacheron Constantin. Over the years, of course, as people have become more and more aware and they've
started looking into more about what makes the watch tick, so to speak.
They have wanted an house movement, so Cartier has a obliged, they're a huge company. And so
they've got a lot of different divisions. So you might think of them as the company that makes,
say the Tank Francaise, or the Louis Cartier classic Tank but all the while
for the last couple of decades, they've also had a high watchmaking division that operates
out of La Chaux de Fonds. It's the Cartier fine watchmaking division. And they've been
quietly working on some magnificent watches over there. So this is one of my favorite ones because
it is crafted in stainless steel. So it is still affordable, even though it has some
amazing complications that for the first time I've ever seen them grouped together on a watch and
this layout and this fashion. So it's not really something where you could say, oh, they're just
copying what's going on over at Jaeger LeCoultre or what's copying what's happening at Vacheron.
Since those are both stable mates at the reach mountain group, but this is a completely new
invention from Cartier. So let's get into it. This is the reference number W 1556368 at its heart
is the in-house movement. It's the caliber 1904 FUMC. And that MC stands for manufacturer caliber.
You'll always see that on the ends on these Cartier high-end watchmaking in-house movements.
Now the watch is 42 millimeter. This one stainless steel. It did come at the time also in rose gold
and white gold, but this is the stainless steel version. And so it does keep the price down.
It's again, 42 millimeter. It's about almost 12 millimeters thick it's 11.9 millimeters thick.
So it still nicely on the wrist fits under a shirt cuff or a shirt sleeve.
The dial on the watch is silvered flinque. So it looks like it's a lot like this they're
essentially they're guilloche dial, but you can see it's got a lot of different finishes on it.
It has the apple shaped hands some call them Breguet hands.
I think that Cartier tends to shy away from using the name of one of their competitors. So
they call it apple hands and they're blued steel. The typical for Cartier finishes.
You also see the blue cabochon on the crown, another Cartier signature.
One of the great things about this crown, a lot of crowns on a lot of watches, frankly, are hard to
use. This one has these sort of grooved edges, and it's a big crown, and it doesn't have any
crown guards. So it's really easy to manipulate. And that comes in handy because this is the first
time that Cartier has ever grouped all of these complications into being controlled by one crown
versus having other buttons and pushers and things to control. So what do we have here?
We've got the signature Roman numeral dial, the minute track around the edge that you
see quite often from Cartier. You have a running second's hand, quite large here at six o'clock.
There is a big date at 12. And this is a fun one to manipulate because you see the
digits change independently of one another at 10 o'clock what looks like power reserve
indicator. That's actually a second time zone and it's a retrograde second time zone. So what
happens is when we pull the crown out and we run the time around, you'll see it snap back
right around here. There it goes. And as we advance, you'll see it advances the hours.
So you're seeing it on a map from zero to 12. It's a 12 hour scale. Well, how do we
know whether that's am or PM? Well, that's where the day, night indicator here comes into play.
So you'll see it just snap right around. In fact, let me show you how you adjust that
independently. You just push the crown here and that's how you change the second time zone. Just
an hour at a time, real easy. If we pull the crown back out and come on around, you'll see. Maybe it
has a little more clarity this time, because I've changed the position where it's going to snap back
right there. So you can see it's some pretty amazing complications.
You have really everything you need -- a second time zone. The day, day, night indicator, the date
and the running seconds. And then the case itself, you can see it has the screws here and the lugs
makes everything super easy. It has the Cartier double adjustable deployant buckle. You can
adjust it from both sides. So you can center buckle where you want it on your wrist, and as
you close it, it keeps the wear of the opening and closing off of the leather and on the steel.
So it makes it where it's infinitely adjustable. You can get the exact right fit and you won't be
like on a Tang buckle watch where you're right between two holes as the right place. You can
adjust that it has the exhibition case back. So you can see that phenomenal movement with its cote
de geneve engraving. So this watch is a bargain from SwissWatchExpo. It was launched in 2014
and the watches and wonders show. And it's currently as of right now in 2021, it's
showing not available on the Cartier website. So I think they might have discontinued at quietly,
but is still available here from Swiss watch expo. Let me show you what it looks like on the wrist,
because that's always something that people need to be able to see.
And when you call in, give us a shout, see if we've still got it.
We've got lots of great Cardi watches
and hit the button to like, and subscribe hit the bell. So you get notified when we post new videos.
And I think this one just looks great on 42 millimeter. It's big enough to satisfy the
big watch guys, but small enough that the traditionalist fans of Cartier will also be
definitely enamored with it. I think it's one of the best looking watches on the wrist that
you could possibly go with. Now, give us a call here at SwissWatchExpo. See if we still got it.