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The colour of time: Cartier's tempered revolution
The new panther-themed chronographs make blue steel look a little monochrome
Look at any high-end watch and chances are you'll see blue screws. Nestled among the rubies and intricate engraved details, they bring an eye-catching finishing touch against a complicated backdrop of wheels, springs and gears. The colour also commonly features on the hands of the dial, denoting a similar sophistication to the timepiece.
But beyond their attractive hue – so sought-after that many lower-end manufacturers seek to achieve the same look through chemical processes – true blue steel serves another essential purpose. Putting the screws through a heat-treatment procedure enables the maker to achieve the optimum balance of hardness and strength for its final use.
Varying temperatures yield a spectrum of colours, ranging from blues and greys from the hottest flames to darker yellows towards the lower end. Achieving the right and, importantly, consistent colour is a laborious, temperamental and time-consuming process. It's little surprise, therefore, that blue steel has such cachet in watchmaking, requiring a high level of skill and expertise.
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Cartier has taken this concept to a new level, elevating the technique from the attractive to a true work of art. Instead of steel, its new watch, the Ronde Louis Cartier XL flamed gold watch, applies the same thinking to gold to create a rich palette of colours on the dial. The pattern of the panther's coat is engraved onto a gold plate, which subsequently undergoes several rounds of heat until the desired array of colours is achieved. The complex flamed gold process demands the highest levels of accuracy, as hours of work can be undone in an instant with the slightest mistake.
The design is centred on the French maison's signature symbol – the panther – a bold motif seen across its breathtaking jewellery collections, and interpreted in similarly sumptuous ways in other sparkling new timepieces revealed this year. In the dainty Panthere Royale, the predatory creature keeps guard of the time, while in the charming and clever Panthere Joueuse it chases a diamond ball around the dial to mark the hour.
