Attachement to JAW's post; Cartier's Official Press Release

It's actually since quite some time that Cartier is presenting again a Minute repeater
and this time in combination with a flying tourbillon.
The new developed in house movement calibre 9402 MC, Geneva Seal,
is housed in the well known Rotonde case in 45mm with a sapphire glass bottom.
Extremely smart looking watch, with a fantastic wrist presence. Sure 45mm quite a watch,
but the Rotonde case fits also a smaller wrist very good.

RotMinRepTour.jpg

- Thanks to Kristian Haagen for this picture -

During the presentation in La Chaud-de-Fonds, Carole Forestier-Kasapi explained
and showed us the difference between the various materials that could be used for the case.
When one decides for a high end watch like a minute repeater, the obvious choice for the case
is quite often platinum, but we learned from Carole that actually for the tone intensity,
this is not the best option.
Yellow gold sounds better than white gold, but titanium sounds best of all!
Amazing to hear the difference in a room full with people.
Cartier decided to use a push button, which is not so common, for minute repeaters,
otherwise the case would have been bolder.

Underneath is the official press release by Cartier,
about the 'Cartier Tourbillon Repetition Minute Tourbillon Volant',
since nobody better than Cartier, can explain the complexity of this time piece.

Thanks to JAW for the great life shots in the above post!

GEO




- Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon watch, calibre 9402 MC,
Geneva Seal: time for good vibrations -

Of all the complication models in existence, minute repeater watches are collectors’ favourites since they give purely
mechanical processes a more poetic dimension and offer the opportunity to follow the passage of time through music.
More subtly, the Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon watch reminds us that announcing the time of
day by means of sound has always been, in all civilisations, one of the exclusive prerogatives of the centres
of power and authority.
This ability to announce the time in a different way certainly gives this complication pride of place in the subtle
hierarchy of watchmaking features. Origins
People often ask who first invented the minute repeater watch and for what reason watchmakers were led in the past
to create such complex instruments having the capacity to tell the time through sounds.



Even after consulting numerous books on the subject, mystery still surrounds the date of invention of a timepiece that
calls on its users’ sense of hearing as well as on their sight. Some recognised historians trace the invention of the
repeater watch to an English watchmaker named Daniel Quare (1649-1724), since it is known that he publicly
presented a pocket timepiece of this type some time between 1680 and 1686. The only thing that is really certain is
that the majority of master watchmakers working during the second half of the 18th century contributed to improving
this extremely complex mechanism.
Of course minute repeater watches are no longer used to the same extent today as was the case in the past.
Nevertheless, their rarity and the quality of their workmanship continue to exert their fascination, even if sometimes
the strength and quality of their sound leave much to be desired.
Purity of sound
While the subjective nature of human vision allows us to form our impressions of different objects or decorative effects
in accordance with the level of education or the temperament of the observer, in questions of sound the ear is rarely
prepared to tolerate inaccuracies. For human beings hearing continues to be among the most highly-developed of the
senses. Even in modern conditions this most sensitive of the five senses is capable of analysing a vast range of
information. If the majority of this material is not retained at a purely auditive level, the brain nevertheless transcribes
what it registers in terms of the pleasure or disgust that it procures. Thus, even without having had formal musical
training, almost everybody can tell a right note from a false one on the basis of the pleasure obtained from hearing it.
This is why, when dealing with minute repeater watches, the main aspect to be considered is not merely their aesthetic
appearance, but also the sound they produce. For, like high-quality musical instruments, these timepieces with their
subtle mechanical designs are works of art whose magic takes effect through the auditory emotion they produce.
Which also explains why, in order to move the human spirit and inspire passion, the entire staff of the
Manufacture Cartier felt the need to rethink in scientific terms everything they thought they knew about repeating
timepieces in general and about minute repeater watches in particular.

Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie – Geneva, 16-20 January 2012.
A fresh approach to the theory of sound propagation
The Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater watch is the fruit of five years of research into watch acoustics. It was long
thought that the knowledge acquired over the centuries was sufficient. However, the rigorous quality standards and
the very conception of today’s watches together with modern methods of scientific analysis have brought to light a
significant number of defects in the way that time measurement is converted into sound.
Cartier’s Research and Development Department has thus taken up the challenge of offering lovers of fine watchmaking
a minute repeater watch which, while remaining traditional in its design, represents a synthesis of in-depth acoustic
research as applied to watchmaking.
The Cartier watch movement development team has set itself the task of redefining the underlying scientific factors
on which the acoustic appreciation of a minute repeater watch is based. As a starting point, it was necessary to
redefine the very concept of sound itself, which can be considered as the auditive sensation engendered by an
acoustic wave. This wave, which may be compared to the ripples produced by a stone that falls into water, displaces
particles in the medium of propagation. These constitute air vibrations that the middle ear transforms into vibrations
that can be analysed by the inner ear.
What the ear hears...
An organ of rare complexity, the ear, although extremely fragile in appearance, is capable of assimilating a large
amount of information to identify a sound and measure its force. Any given sound is the sum of a volume defined in
decibels (a unit of acoustic intensity as represented by the level of sound pressure exercised on the ear), of a pitch
(high or low), of a frequency (the number of vibrations engendered by the body of sound per second),
and of a duration (time period).
Each of these values that form the sound must be considered individually during the creation of a minute repeater
watch, and must ultimately lead to the transmission of a sound that is clear, powerful, regular and crystalline,
without any trace of echo or parasitical induction that could spoil the pitch of the notes intended to give a fine sound
dimension to time measurement.
... the eye sees
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 presentation of the external parts of this state-of-the-art
watch with a classic personality.





Numerous acoustic tests have been conducted so as to validate a certain number
of theories concerning the cases of watches with striking mechanisms.
Foremost among these are the tests carried out by Cartier’s team of engineers and watchmakers involving modules
made of different materials and enclosing the same music-box. These have made it possible to develop 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 Cartier has chosen to present the
Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater watch in grade 5 polished titanium with a 45 mm diameter.Salon International
de la Haute Horlogerie – Geneva, 16-20 January 2012 7
For it is all a question of vibrations
To ensure the harmonious transmission of an acoustic wave, there needs to be a very strong link between the part
emitting the sound wave and the parts intended to receive it. Today Cartier proposes a new watchmaking concept
that consists of linking the gong to the plate and linking the plate to the middle of the case at four points.
To optimise this link, the heels of the two gongs of the minute repeater are finally screwed down,
each at a particular point inside the case. The perfect synergy between the case and the movement thus aids the
transmission of the vibrations.
Since square gongs allow the hammer to strike regularly at the same place despite the fact that the blade of the
gong has started to vibrate, the acoustic waves are thus harmoniously diffused throughout a wide emitting surface.
It is however essential that these harmonious sounds transmitted through the air be struck in a regular way so
that they can be both appropriately interpreted and specifically counted by the brain.
To produce the constant striking of the hammers, the Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon watch
is equipped with a mechanism known as an “inertia and friction governor”, which is particularly silent
and sophisticated.
Thanks to an aperture in the open-work dial, this objectively very efficient organ is visible with its slate-coloured
galvanised silver-plating in the extension of the flying tourbillon escapement positioned at 12 o’clock.
It enters into rotation so as to control the speed of the winding of the minute repeater’s strike-train and at the
same time ensure the regular emission of the notes sent out by the watch’s two gongs.
In this way the ear is enchanted by the tune marking the hour while at the same time the eye is captivated by the
frantic whirling of these two extremely complex mechanisms. In this dual action, one mechanism has the illustrious
task of regulating the passage of time at a rate of one revolution per minute and 21,600 vibrations per hour for
the balance. The other dedicates itself to moderating the rhythm of the music by controlling the winding of the
spring contained in the barrel of the minute repeater mechanism manually reloaded by means of a push-piece
incorporated into the case middle at 8 o’clock. The choice of a push-piece to replace the traditional bolt that is
habitually observed on the side of minute repeater watch cases, answers the need to reduce the case mass / gong
mass ratio that determines the power of the vibrations. Being smaller and, in particular, being concentrated at one
specific point on the case, the push-piece thus enables the mass of the case to be significantly reduced.
Marking time with sound
Connoisseurs of fine mechanical devices will be sure to turn back the time again and again once they have activated
the push-piece positioned at 8 o’clock so as to enjoy the whirling dance of the strike-trains, racks, star-wheels and
snails found in the fascinating minute repeater mechanism. This watch, with its 45 mm diameter and available in
titanium or in pink gold, has a 9402 MC movement, 447 parts and 47 jewels,
and bears the Geneva Seal – the mark of its impeccable quality of craftsmanship. It will be appreciated for its
incredibly light weight, achieved through the extremely delicate nature of its mechanical parts, and will be proud
to demonstrate the clarity and power of its strikes to whoever cares to listen.



An exceptional model combining two of watchmaking’s traditional grand complications,
the Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon watch is the first representative of a new generation of
high-level timepieces. Proposed in a numbered limited edition of 50 models in titanium and 50 models in pink gold,
this new Cartier creation also exists in a version set with baguette-cut diamonds.

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