High Calibre: A Tourbillon like No Other

The Astrotourbillon is a statement piece that offers a window into the future of Cartier’s high watchmaking collection itself but it’s not only the movement that’s worth paying attention to here

By Ashok Soman
Photography by EK Yap

When is a tourbillon not a tourbillon, but still kind of is? This is as awkward a question as the awkward phrasing suggests. We asked a similar albeit more graceful question of the Cartier Astroregulateur (it doesn’t feature a tourbillon, end of story) but with the Astrotourbillon, which was revealed to the world in 2010, the answer is not so clear. To be sure, that explains a part of the appeal of this very special mechanism – there’s something charming about a watch that you have to explain, that doesn’t surrender its secrets all at once to casual observers.

When we spoke to the Head of Cartier High Watchmaking Carole Forestier-Kasapi at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie this year, she told us that Cartier will be revealing more “fun” complications like the Astrotourbillon in future and we have no reason to doubt her of course. This prompted us to take another look at the Astrotourbillon, which we happen to have shot in the Calibre de Cartier case.

The size of the watch is evident here but the excellence of the proportions is also evident

The Cartier Astrotourbillon is a statement piece that offers a window into the future of Cartier’s high watchmaking collection itself. For us, this extends beyond the manufacture calibre 9451 MC to encompass the entire watch so we’ll begin with certain inimitable aesthetic cues.