The famous jewelry and watchmaker Cartier is extremely pleased to unveil its first timepiece, which requires no adjustment. Cartier Id One Concept Watch needs neither regulating the balance wheel screw, nor adjusting the balance spring or modifying its active length. It is also free from regulating the position of the paddles on the anchor.
The watch is set in a 46mm “Ballon Bleu”-style case – except in a very high tech and undoubtedly awesome material called “Niobium-Titanium”. Niobium-titanium, apart from looking great is a highly wear resistant alloy that has its own unique shock absorption properties that give it an advantage over a material such as steel.
The breakthrough innovation of Cartier ID One lies in that it stands for a brand new concept of future watches – watches that do not require any adjustment or regulation during production and even the whole life of the watch. As we know that due to gravity and the unstable nature of metal, mechnical watches have to be adjusted during the assembly process, such as the hairspring, the ballence and the pallet fork. Cartier has come up with inniovative solution to address this problems.
There are couple innovation to make the Cartier ID One free from adjustment. The first one is called ‘Zerodur hairspring’. Zerodur is a patented ceramic/glass material that is extremely stable under magnetic fields and a wide range of temperatures. Set with 17 rubies, the movement is composed of 177 individual parts and features the dimensions of 36,8 mm x 6,12 mm: the diameter and thickness are indicated respectively. This model movement is fitted with a double barrel, offering a 52-hour power reserve.
Second, Cartier has has introduced a balance wheel, escape wheel and lever in Carbon Crystal, which is a diamond-like material that can enable the escapement to be oil free effectively. Thirdly, a shock resistant escapement cage that can shift laterally and vertically is created inside the ID Once to absorb force and protect the entire escapement from shock.
Just like other concept product, the Cartier ID One concept watch is not for commercial sale. But we do expect Cartier to put it into production in the future. As our previous post shows, the Tag Heuer Monaco V4 concept watch takes about 5 year to be put into commercial production, so it will probably take us a few years to see the commercial version of Cartier ID One.
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And here’s the video that gives another great look at the watch…thought you might enjoy!
Cartier ID One Video