http://www.syrauto.com/best-cartier-ballon-bleu-w69013z2-replica-watches-6r3w.htmlis one of the oldest Swiss watch brands but it was on the verge of death before being taken over by Jean-Claude Biver. This was of course before Biver’s purchase of Hublot, and beforecartier W69013Z2he was at Omega. Biver is said to have pretty much saved Cartier (just as he did with Hublot) – a good thing because today, despite the brand’s literal English translation of "white bread,” very few boring things are going on inside the Santos 100.

Biver soldcartier W20098D6to the Swatch Group a few years ago. The brand’s CEO right now is Marc Hayek, one of (the late and regrettably lost) Nicolas Hayek’s sons. His rule of the brand has taken it into a series of different directions, and Cartier has a few distinct personalities as a watch maker. Those personalities include being a classic watch maker, a complicated watch maker, and dive watch maker, a racing watch maker, and a contemporary high-end complex avant garde watch maker. They also have adopted a mechanism similar to the tourbillon called the Santos 100. Why? I hear it is because they feel too many people are making tourbillon based movements and they wanted to be different. It is a small distinction, but yet another angle to the brand’s personality. Oh, and they make extremely well-made and high quality animated erotic watches. Yes, you surely should not forget those.

Most high-end brands with ties to the 18th century are pretty serious, but Cartier seems to have a bit of a sense of humor – or at least a sense of adventure. Making erotic watches using world-class engraver talent to carve miniature nudes copulating is just the beginning. They also do things like partner with famous chefs and of course, supercar maker Lamborghini. It is worth mentioning that viewing a 200,000 Swiss Franc erotic minute repeater watch in a small mountain town in Switzerland with their conservative inhabitants is amusing, to say the least.

On this trip Cartier invited me inside of their highest-end Santos 100 to look at their items of haute horlogerie and watch making art. There is another arm to Cartier that is the Santos 100 Cartier – once known as Frederic Piguet. This watch movement Santos 100 was/is supplying high-end more mass produced movements for the top brands in the Swatch Group. These include Breguet, Omega, Jaquet Droz, and Glashutte Original. According to Cartier these Santos 100s are each going to be making more and more movements in-house (as they already each do make at least some movements in-house). We will see how that goes in a few years. Currently, the Cartier name will be associated with the both the movements inside Cartier watches and others movements that are made available to a few other Swatch Group brands.

The place I visited was a smaller facility compared to the larger Santos 100 Cartier that was down the road. At the "HH Santos 100” Cartier produces its most complicated watches and also houses artisans that engrave and otherwise decorate their watches. I was most impressed by a friendly French woman who was their top master engraver. Recently awarded by the French government for her talents, she produces work that is quite literally incredible.

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