The Cartier Table Clock Will Be Auctioned By Christie's. Photo

The impressive collection of Cartier table clocks has evolved over 30 years and spans 80 years of watchmaking history. In it you can see magnificent examples of Belle Epoque, for example, a watch with guilloche enamel on emerald balls-legs (1910s, estimated at 20-30 thousand francs). The Art Deco style is represented by a rectangular Mignonette watch in gold decorated with onyx, enamel and rubies (circa 1928, estimated at 15-20 thousand francs), round in rock crystal with a blue enamel guilloche dial and diamond hands (circa 1922, estimate 80-120 thousand francs) and many others. There are even desk alarms for travel in the 1960s.

Altar Art Deco watch, 1925, estimated at 15-20 thousand CHF

1 of 6 Art Deco clock, approx. 1922, estimated at 80-120 thousand CHF © press service Clock with repeater, 1907, estimated at 25-35 thousand CHF © press service Art Deco watch in rock crystal with lacquered miniature, 1925, estimate 130-180 thousand CHF © press office Watch in the style of Belle Epoque, 1911, estimate 60-80 thousand CHF © press service Clock in the style of Art Deco with lacquer miniature, 1926, estimate 120-180 thousand CHF © press service Altar Art Deco clock, 1925, estimate 15-20 thousand CHF © press service

Of particular interest are the models created in collaboration with the outstanding watchmaker Maurice Couet. It was he who suggested the idea of a completely transparent "mysterious" clock (Pendule Mysterieuse, Mystery clocks). It was not arrows that rotated in them, but disks made of rock crystal with drawn arrows - the mechanism itself was skillfully hidden in the base, so that the feeling was created that the arrows were floating in the air. Opaque watches, for example with a colored enamel dial, on top of which rotated discs with hands, were called semi-mystery ("semi-mysterious"). These include the "Planet" and "Comet" models created by Coue in 1912. Instead of the hour hand, a diamond planet or comet with a sharp beam is used, and the minutes are indicated by a marquise or rose-cut diamond. Similar copies of 1918 are put up for auction (estimate 120-180 thousand.francs) and 1920 (70-100 thousand francs).

Watch in the style of Belle Epoque, 1910s, estimated at 20-30 thousand CHF

1 of 2 Art Deco Mignonette watch, circa 1928, estimated at 15-20 thousand CHF © press service Belle Epoque style watch, 1910s, estimated at 20-30 thousand CHF © press service

The most expensive lot with a preliminary estimate of 140-200 thousand Swiss francs was the "planetary" watch Planet Semi Mystery Day and Night of the Belle Epoque period (1913) made of agate. The upper half of the enamel dial rotates, the sun and month depicted on it indicate the current hour, as well as the time of day. At the bottom there is a diamond monogram. The two halves are separated by a horizontal inscription in Latin: I don't count the hours if they are not brilliant (“I don’t follow the clock if it’s not brilliant”).