Cartier Time Art: Mechanics of Passion

A study of Cartier's watchmaking tradition, written by Jack Forster and published by Skira with photography by Laziz Hamani. Where Nadelhoffer and Rudoe treat watchmaking alongside jewellery and objects as part of the broader Cartier history, this book focuses specifically on horology — the mechanics, the complications, and the aesthetic language of Cartier's watch production.

The book covers the watch forms Cartier developed from the early twentieth century onwards: the Tank, the Tonneau, the Ronde, the Tortue, and the Mystery Clock tradition. It also covers the complications Cartier developed in partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre and others, and the later high-watchmaking output of the Manufacture.

What It Covers

The history of Cartier's watch designs from the first wristwatch commissions through the twentieth century, with particular attention to the technical content: movements, complications, case forms, and the relationship between the aesthetic and the mechanical. The Rotonde de Cartier complications programme is treated in detail.

Cited In

A reference for the watch-form entries in the Cartier glossary, including Tank, Mystery Clocks, Tonneau, and Tortue.