GMT - # 25, Autumn 2011
The Calibre de Cartier Multifuseaux watch simultaneously displays two time zones in an eminently readable and original way. The local time zone is indicated in the traditional manner by means of the brand's signature dagger-shaped hour and minute hands. Meanwhile, the second time-zone is shown in an original mode by a double hour hand positioned concentrically with the local time zone. It is double because it appears on a 180° segment. The two tips of this double hand respectively carry a sun and a moon to prevent any unfortunate confusion between day and night. A pusher serves to adjust the second time zone as the successive meridians are crossed, and a city indicator is indexed to this display. This in itself is not really exclusive, apart from the actual lay-out of the highly readable indications. In this respect, in order to provide additional space on the dial surface, the city indication is in fact visible through a lateral magnifying glass.
Nonetheless, the major asset of this new calibre lies in the fact that it settles an issue of which all watchmakers are aware, but that none (at least to our knowledge) had so far resolved: taking account of summer time in calculating the time difference between various time zones. Superseding the efforts of the manufacturers renowned for the development of complications, Cartier offers a simple solution that accentuates the useful nature of this complication. The city disc is indexed in such a way as to compensate for the difference between the time zones during the five months of summer or “daylight saving time” (DST). Meanwhile, the lower part of the dial provides another extremely useful and innovative indication: that of the number of hours' difference between the two different time zones! Clothed in a white gold case measuring 45 mm in diameter, the Calibre de Cartier Multifuseaux watch reflects all the brand's watchmaking design codes including the typography of the dial, the sapphire cabochon set on the crown, and the shape of the hands.
The sheer simplicity of this unmistakably identifiable idea and its perfectly accomplished implementation mean this model certainly deserves to be the object of this watchmaker's choice. So much so, indeed, that it is hard to imagine such a practical and obvious item of information not spreading to other models to be released in the near future…
