Santos-Dumont XL watch, 18-carat white gold, horse decoration, gem-set mosaic pattern. What if the gem-set mosaic pattern were part of Cartier’s creation? More than anyone else, the watchmaker excels at highlighting the vivid and detailed expressiveness of this technique: landscape stones, Kalahari jasper, Madagascar grey jade, chocolate obsidian, pink opal – these gemstones have been skillfully crafted by Cartier’s artisans to create a stunning picture. This year, two master mosaic artists have teamed up to create this striking piece of light and shadow and color balance. In the square space at the base of the dial, irregularly shaped gemstone squares form a small miniature scroll with a horse design.
More than 400 small gemstone squares are set throughout the horse pattern, creating a sense of depth, a raised effect, and a dazzling undertone. The neck and outline of the thoroughbred horse are made up of irregularly cut opal squares, which seem to come alive as if they were about to leap into the air. Metal lace outlines the edges of the design, while details of the neck, horsehair, and nostrils are shown through hand-carved gold lines. The bridles and pom-poms are highlighted with red paint.
It took no less than 120 man-hours to create this horse motif decoration, with 50 man-hours dedicated to the horse and 70 man-hours to the background. It is a limited edition with a lot of personality and style: it is limited to 40 pieces without diamonds and only 10 pieces with baguette diamonds.
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