Felix Scholz
Million dollar views. $65-million views to be precise. The venue is for sale, timepieces not included.Last week Team Time+Tide attended a Cartier event in Sydney. And what an event. We were whisked off to a secret Sydney location, greeted by uniformed Cartier staff at a venue that could have stood in for a Bond villain’s pad (Daniel Craig era, not Moore). If you squinted descending the stairs you could have sworn it was the Grand Budapest Hotel. As we explored?the sandstone and cedar Cartier lair, we were swathed in light from the harbor and dazzled by (literally) million dollar views. There were several hundred-thousand dollar views of timepieces on display too, but we’ll get to that.The Grand Cartier Hotel?It was then we saw the watches. Key pieces from Cartier's menswear collection were placed around the room, on tables echoing the roman numerals of the Caliber de Cartier. We were all drawn to the pink gold Caliber de Cartier diver (Andrew took his 47th wrist shot, following on from his SIHH collection), the Tortue XL Perpetual Calendar and the Tank MC Skeleton all bold, refined and masculine watches for a brand more often associated with women's jewellery and men's wrist candy.The Caliber de Cartier Diver in pink gold. Wrist-modeled by DC.Tank MC Skeleton two-tone with a dark grey ruthenium coating and polished (plated) pink gold bevelsThe Tortue XL Perpetual Calendar on Andrew’s fairly awe-struck wrist.Cartier Tortue XL Perpetual CalendarQuite a skyline….But that's what we were in Sydney to celebrate Cartier's men's watchmaking collection, which?has gone from strength to strength in recent years. Cartier could easily rest on the laurels of the Tank, and the Santos, but while these models have an important place in their collections, they serve as a base canvas for Cartier to demonstrate their watchmaking prowess, and the house excels at masculine skeletonized dials, artistic dials and flying tourbillons.The two-tone Caliber de Cartier DiverWe were also there to celebrate the launch of a short film Shape Your Time, which celebrates Cartier's watchmaking past and future.[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube /watch?v=FNtZ3pPun3Y” width=”840″]Time+Tide were guests of Cartier
23.10.14