Luxury brand Cartier has incorporated the famous panther in its collections for more than a century now and the iconic panther is back playing an alluring part in the latest offering ‘ the Ronde Louis Cartier Straw and Gold Marquetry Watch’ as it has played in the history of the Maison. A permanent fixture in Cartier’s collections, the Cartier Ronde Louis Cartier Straw and Gold Marquetry Watch premiered at Watches & Wonders 2020, as a shining, or rather roaring, example (pun intended), that showcases the traditional art of straw marquetry like never before. The painstaking and intricate process begins with the dial being engraved with rough outlines of the panther. This is followed by the craftsman inlaying some 75 blades of straw in various hues, each cut perfectly by hand like a jigsaw puzzle piece a la “regular” straw marquetry. Gold is then inlaid to provide depth, and coupled with enameling a truly breathtaking dial is created to show details such as the black spots on the panther’s coat, while miniature painting provides the means to realize the starry backdrop on the dial. That does sound like an assiduous task and to make it clearer out of the 100 hours of work the Cartier “Métiers d’Art” watch required, 97 hours were spent on the dial alone.
The 42mm Ronde Louis Cartier Straw and Gold Marquetry timepiece features a prowling panther, bezel, crown, and buckle, set with brilliant-cut diamonds (2.07ct), ultra-thin, hand-wound Calibre 430 MC movement and is limited to just 30 pieces available worldwide.
[Via: Watches by SJX]
