Cartier ID One Concept Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed)
Dec 10th 2009 at 12:03PM

For once, a concept watch that is actually a concept. In the auto world we know that "concept" means "not for production." In the watch world, "concept" is often just a name stuck on a model to make it sound more exotic. Here "concept" actually means just that. So why all the to-do over this concept watch? Well because it is further proof that Cartier is serious about making not only nice looking watches, but mechanically sophisticated ones as well.

The ID One Concept watch takes a Ballon Bleu shaped case, makes it 46mm wide and constructs it out of a spacey sounding material called Niobium Titanium. It is apparently a special titanium alloy (which is itself an alloy) that is even harder and more wear resistant that titanium. It also apparently has other special (magical) properties. The whole point of the in-house made automatic tourbillon movement was to require as little service and regulation as possible. Regulation refers to what a movement initially goes through to ensure that it functions properly and accurately. Service is continual servicing that is needed in mechanical watches over the years. This can be as simple and lubricating and cleaning part of the watch. The whole point of the Cartier ID One Concept watch is to reduce or eliminate the need for these delicate and time consuming needs. They are also quite expensive (but that makes the watch makers happy as servicing watches is an income source).

Still, there is a shortage of qualified watch makers out there, so Cartier is correct in forging into this needed area of innovation. For others, the "build once and never service again" watch is a holy grail of horological pursuits. Parts of the new Cartier concept watch are made in a material called carbon crystal. This crystal is very shock resistant and does not requite lubrication - adding to a significant decrease in the need to maintain these watches. There are other innovations as well, but I will wait until I meet with Cartier to learn about more of them. The hope for collectors is that such innovations will find their way into production watches in the future.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 2010, Cartier, Concept, ID One, IdOne, SIHH, watch, watch of the day, WatchOfTheDay