I gave you the first look at Cartier’s new grand complication pocket watch almost a month ago.  And just because it looks so good, I’m back bringing you a few new angles and looks at this masterpiece.  In particular you can observe the fine finishing of this watch — the “V” shaped tread around the edge of the case, the solid white gold skeletonized Roman numerals, hand finished with carefully bevelled edges, the contrast of polished and brushed surfaces, and so on.  And don’t forget that the pocket watch includes an obsidian and rock crystal stand, along with a polished white gold chain and fob (also pictured below).

Cartier Pocket Watch  (Ref. 1556213)

59.2mm White Gold Case (Skeletonized), tourbillon, perpetual calendar, monopusher chronograph, 8-day power reserve

Calibre 9436 MC

obsidian and rock crystal stand

You’ve seen the Annual Calendar, now here’s the new Perpetual Calendar from Cartier.  More precisely, the Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Perpetual Calendar in pink (Ref. W1556217) and white gold (Ref. W1556218).  This piece is a fairly traditional interpretation built around Cartier’s 9422 MC perpetual calendar movement.  I particularly like that the days of the week are indicated by a retrograde hand.

Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Perpetual Calendar

40.5mm pink or white gold case (13mm thick), automatic mechanical caliber 9422 MC, alligator strap

The new Cartier Santos-Dumont Skeleton Ref. 2020057 is not a new model, but it is the first time the skeletonized watch is executed in pink gold.  In pink gold, I find the the overall aesthetic of this watch to be quite powerful.  The Santos-Dumont skeleton model’s most prominent feature is that the movement of the watch is also the dial, with roman numerals sculpted right in!

Cartier Santos-Dumont Skeleton Red Gold

38.7mm x 47.4mm red gold case (9.4mm thick), manual wind Calibre 9614 MC

Cartier Calibre 9614 MC seen from the back

Cartier has presented another impressive line-up for its 2012 collection, and this new Rotonde Annual Calendar is perhaps my favorite.  Though not as complex or intriguing as the Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon or the Cartier Skeleton Pocket Watch, the Rotonde de Cartier Annual Calendar is a fine example of a clever yet practically designed calendar.

Cartier Rotonde Annual Calendar

45mm pink or white gold, automatic mechanical Manufacture Cartier Caliber 9980MC with annual calendar, display back

Here is the Cartier Minute Repeater that I mentioned in my last post about the Cartier Skeleton Pocket Watch.  Five years in the making, this exquisite piece will surely be one of the highlights on SIHH 2012 in Geneva.  It goes without saying that minute repeaters are some of the priciest and most rarely seen complications in all of modern day horology.

As one of the defining concepts for the Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon watch, the Manufacture Cartier has paid particular attention to the acoustics of this watch, in fact they claim a “new watchmaking theory in relation to the transmission of sound, based on a relationship between volume (45 mm), weight (approx. 32 grammes) and power (68 decibels).”  The equation may best be summarised as follows: the lower the weight of a repeating watch’s case and the larger its diameter, the greater its capacity to produce a loud sound.”  Which is why, I guess, that Cartier has chosen to present the Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater watch in grade 5 polished titanium with a 45 mm diameter (but not sure how to explain that there will also be a [somewhat less acoustically-pleasing] pink gold model, too). Anyway, here it is…

 Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater

Limited Edition 50 pieces (50 pieces in pink gold also to be produced)

45mm titanium case, Cartier Calibre 9402 MC movement (Geneva Seal), minute repeater activator/pusher at 8 o’clock

Oh — you can grab some live looks and additional informed discussion of the piece here.

For each of the past few years at the SIHH show in Geneva, Cartier has unveiled a “grande complication” (i.e. a highly complicated) wristwatch featuring a tourbillon, perpetual calendar and monopusher chronograph (see Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Flying Tourbillon Skeleton, for example).  The trend will continue this year – for 2012, Cartier has drawn inspiration from Cartier pocket watches produced in the 1930′s to produce the eye-catching piece you see here.  The pocket watch is crafted in white gold, with skeletonized Roman numerals, something that we have also seen the past few years in some of Cartier’s higher end pieces.

Also in 2012 Cartier is introducing an impressive new minute repeater, which I will have up on the blog later today.

Perpetuelle SIHH 2012 Previews >>> Baume & Mercier Capeland Flyback Chronograph,  Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 40th Anniversary Watch, Panerai PAM 422, Girard-Perregaux 1966 Small Second, Piaget Altiplano Skeleton Automatic, Cartier Cadran Lové Tourbillon,

Cartier Skeleton Pocket Watch (Grand Complication)

Limited Edition 10 pieces (5 diamond-set pieces also to be produced)

59mm white gold case, mechanical hand-wind Calibre 9436 MC (Renaud et Papi, tourbillon+perpetual calendar+monopusher chronograph movement)

The watch includes an obsidian and rock crystal stand, along with a white gold chain and fob:

Here’s a first look at the Cartier Cadran Lové Tourbillon watch, a piece that will be officially unveiled in January 2012 at SIHH in Geneva, Switzerland.   This piece builds off of previous innovations and design motifs to result in this interesting looking timepiece.  The Caliber 9458 powering the Cadran Lové Tourbillon is actually a variant of an already existing tourbillon (the ladies “Alligator Tourbillon” from SIHH 2011) but the watch itself is decidedly masculine, i.e. with sculpted Roman numerals rather than a pave diamond crocodile. The tourbillon is actually a “flying tourbillon”, a complicated execution of the tourbillon in which the tourbillon carriage seems to “fly” on bridges.  Cartier further adds to the aesthetic with a stylized Cartier “C” (see close-up below). Cartier connoisseurs will recognize the Roman Numeral design from  to that used on the Santos skeleton watches in prior years (Cartier Santos Dumont Black Titanium, for example).

More SIHH 2012 Previews>>> Panerai PAM 422, Girard-Perregaux 1966 Small Second, Piaget Altiplano Skeleton Automatic

Cartier Cadran Lové Tourbillon Watch

Limited, numbered edition of 100 pieces

46.2mm white gold case, manual-wind mechanical manufacture Cartier Calibre 9458 MC (flying tourbillon, 50 hrs power reserve), sapphire-set crown,

Carbon Skeleton…

Cartier has really stepped up its watch game over the past few years (SIHH 2009, SIHH 2010), and this year’s collection keeps with the trend (SIHH 2011).  I really like this new 2011 piece — the Santos Dumont “Carbon Skeleton”, featuring a skeletonized, black DLC-coated titanium case.  No word yet on production numbers or price.

Cartier Santos Dumont Black Titanium (Ref W2020052)

39mm x 47mm DLC-coated titanium case, titanium crown set with faceted black synthetic gemstone, hours and minutes with skeletonized bridges in the form of Roman numerals, comes on alligator strap with DLC-coated white gold deployant buckle

movement is the manual-wind Cartier Caliber 9612 MC (~72 hours power reserve)

Masculine 47mm titanium case…

Hope you all had a nice and relaxing Turkey Day….now back to watches!  After a strong showing by Cartier at SIHH 2010 (see them all here), I am excited to see what will come out of the ambitious new “manufacture” in 2011.  At least one of the watches to be presented at the SIHH 2011 in Geneva will be the new “Calibre de Cartier Astrotourbillon” you see below.   The “Calibre de Cartier” collection made its debut last year with a couple of very nice base models – you can view my Jan 2010 introduction and follow up thoughts on the Calibre de Cartier for more details.  You may also recall that the manual wind ‘Calibre 9451 MC Astrotourbillon’ movement likewise made its debut last year, except in a different model – the slightly more refined and elegant “Rotonde de Cartier”.

So what all this basically means is that Cartier is putting the Astrotourbillon (aka “Calibre 9451 MC”) movement into the Calibre de Cartier case.  With an impressive and very masculine looking watch being the end result.  Scroll down for more details and comparisons.

Cartier Calibre de Cartier Astrotourbillon

47mm titanium case on black alligator strap, limited edition 100 pieces (numbered)

close ups:

angle view

compared to the Calibre de Cartier base model:

compared to the Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon:

If you are a big Cartier fan, you may enjoy scrolling through all of my Cartier coverage on the blog HERE.

60 cookie cutters, 1 counterfeiter…and 1 unclear business strategy…

I don’t know why I’ve been sitting on this article for a couple months now…but since I am on the topic of TAG Heuer this week let’s take a look at an important topic – e-commerce.  I first wrote about TAG Heuer’s e-commerce initiatives about 2 years ago (see: Tag Heuer opens to online sales – a controversial move by a leading watch brand? December 20, 2008), followed by a more extensive article noting expansion of the initiative (see: TAG Heuer Quietly Expands Authorized E-Commerce Initiative Aug 18, 2009).  Lo and behold, since 2008 TAG Heuer has aggressively but quietly ramped up its the e-commerce platform from the initial 2 e-tailers to a current count of 60, (yes 60!) Authorized E-tailers.

Now at least TAG Heuer is trying to figure out how to make the Internet work with what is actually a very big and industry-wide problem — that is, an entrenched and geographically defined network of Authorized Retailers that is seemingly incompatible with a territory which has no walls and knows no boundaries…aka the Internet.  But…like its doomed-from-the-start Meridiist mobile phone and its insanely over-priced “luxury” flash drives, I think that TAG Heuer’s “Authorized e-tail” strategy reflects a poor understanding of the e-commerce channel.  So I decided to give the situation some greater scrutiny…

While on the one hand I give credit to TAG Heuer for being one of the more forward-thinking brands when it comes to the Internet – particularly for a brand of its size and stature – on the other hand I have to say “What the hell is TAG Heuer thinking with its e-commerce strategy?”

First, a quick look at what is known about TAG Heuer’s e-commerce strategy.  Basically, TAG Heuer allows some of its Authorized Retailers to set up storefronts on a Tag Heuer-hosted domain (tagheuershop.com).    Each “Authorized E-tailer” website is identical except for the swap out of the the name.  Note also these storefronts are separate and distinct from (ie not seamless with) the dealer’s normal website, although in some cases Tag Heuer is *generous* enough to place a small dealer logo in the lower-right-hand corner of the page which links back to the dealer’s primary website.  You can click on any one of the 60 Authorized E-Tailers here on TAG Heuer’s website and see for yourself what I am talking about.

Is a generic “one-size-fits-all” approach the answer for a luxury sales channel?

TAG Heuer’s unwillingness to relinquish any sort of marketing control to its dealers (by forcing them all to adopt a Tag Heuer hosted website) is a bit control-freakish but not uncommon in the luxury watch industry.  Most watch brands simply are not comfortable relinquishing control of the sales experience, online or off.  But this cookie-cutter approach is just awful.  Why does Tag Heuer need a new subdomain for each dealer? They are, after all, nothing but a bunch of identical storefronts housed under the same domain and offering the same products at the same price (control your excitement, please).  Why not just own up to reality and just have 1 tagheuershop.com and allow all dealers to re-direct to it and receive the lead-gen fee and/or share the commission?  Particularly if TAG Heuer is handling order processing and fulfillment (which I don’t know for sure).

Overall, I get the impression that Tag Heuer is treating its Authorized Dealers like 3rd graders with this whole “authorized e-tailer” cookie-cutter approach.  As a consumer, I am 100% indifferent as to which of the 60 e-tailers I would choose to purchase from — there is absolutely no differentiation across these sites, so what is the point?

Not to mention that gray marketers are now unabashedly ripping-off TAG Heuer’s own storefront designs.  Which is ironic because the gray market is one set of dealers that Tag Heuer probably wanted to help diminish by implementing such an e-commerce strategy.  The one clone site (that I know of) has 100% ripped off TAG Heuer — the site looks virtually identical to the TAG Heuer e-shop, including rotating “Authorized TAG Heuer E-Commerce” logo, but on the FAQs page the company clearly states that it is not an authorized Tag Heuer dealer. The other difference is that it is offering prices that are lower to any of those found on the official Tag Heuer e-shops.   Interestingly, the site may have been taken down since I first drafted this article a couple months ago – I tried accessing it this morning but it would not load (I’m not going to give them unwarranted publicity by listing the URL).   But I did take a screen shot (see below)!! Even if this particular site was taken down, knock-offs can pop up like weeds, which forces TAG Heuer to run around the Internet playing whack-a-mole.

Grey market dealer has ripped off the design of tagheuershop.com – including the “Authorized E-Commerce” logo.  Note too, the gray-market DISCOUNTS being offered:

In summary, I just don’t see the logic behind Tag Heuer’s strategy here.   It comes off as a weak, half-a** effort that a deep-pocketed sales and marketing powerhouse like TAG Heuer should be ashamed of.  Of course I am willing to hear an explanation if TAG Heuer is willing to offer one, but if history is a guide they will stay hiding under their desks.

Maybe they should take some notes from brand such as Bell & Ross, Cartier and others.  While the e-commerce platforms of these brands are not perfect, they are leaps and bounds ahead of what TAG Heuer is doing.

Well, that’s all I have to say for now.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.  If you are an authorized dealer (Tag Heuer or otherwise) — I’d also love to hear your perspective on the topic.  Comment below, anonymously if you prefer.

Also, I recommend some more good reading on the topic over at my watch friend Ariel Adam’s blog, here.