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The Enchanting Allure of Cartier’s Mystery Clocks
With hands seemingly suspended in mid-air, Mystery Clocks are some of Cartier’s most wondrous inventions.
W hat model or design is most iconic to Cartier? It’s difficult to say. The Tank watch, Panthère jewelry, Tutti Frutti and the Love bracelet – each could stake its claim, and rightfully so. However, before any of these icons was dreamed into being, Cartier made the Mystery Clock, one of its most enchanting and least-understood creations. Combining incredible hand-crafted cases often made from precious materials with innovative clockmaking and a bit of horological sleight-of-hand, they remain every bit as beguiling today as they were over 100 years ago.
The Origins of the Cartier Mystery Clock
By the turn of the 20th century, Cartier had already made a name for itself producing exceptional jewelry, watches and design objects from its home in Paris, France. Louis Joseph Cartier, grandson of the firm’s founder, had a particular interest in watchmaking and would go on to introduce many of the brand’s most important and foundational watches over the coming decades, including the Tank, the Santos and the Baignoire. It is hard to imagine Cartier today with even one of these not in the collection.
But before that, Louis Cartier did something much less heralded, but no less important: He hired a young clockmaker named Maurice Covet to become Cartier’s exclusive clockmaker in Paris. Cartier gave him carte blanche to create the most unique and interesting clocks he could imagine, and Couët delivered, initially creating a collection of first-of-their-kind day/night table clocks inspired by astronomy and crafted from materials like gold, mother-of-pearl, lapis lazuli, diamonds and the like. These objects were equal parts art and science and set the template for what Couët would continue to do during his time at Cartier.
In 1912, Couët showed Louis Cartier something entirely new: A clock with diamond hands that seemed to float in the middle of a rock crystal case, quietly rotating to show the time despite appearing not to be connected to any mechanism or movement. It was inspired by a creation of magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, a 19th-century French illusionist and performer, and how it worked was a total mystery to the viewer. The name Mystery Clock stuck, and Cartier has continued to make these captivating timepieces ever since.
How Mystery Clocks Work
While the trick behind the Mystery Clock is confounding at first, it is ultimately the combination of an optical illusion and some mechanical ingenuity that keeps the hands turning and the time accurate.
The hands – often made of diamonds, gold or a combination of the two – are mounted to transparent discs, typically made of glass or crystal. They appear totally clear when viewed straight-on, giving them a classic floating appearance. The edges of the discs are then connected to gears hidden in the side or central supports of the clock (depending on the design of the case), which are in turn often ornately decorated to draw the viewer’s eye away from the mechanism. Those gears serve as the connection between the hands and the clock movement, typically housed in the clock’s base, where it steadily beats out the time and can be wound by the owner.
Like all magic tricks, once the secret is revealed it seems obvious. But Cartier’s artistry inclines the viewer to lean in and enjoy its beauty, rather than trying to puzzle out its enigmatic secrets.
The Mystery mechanism was mostly limited to clocks, from smaller desktop clocks to ornate mantle clocks, although a small number of Mystery pocket watches were made in the 1930s. However, in 2013, Cartier introduced Mystery wristwatches into the collection, which it continues to develop and iterate on today. These operate on the same principle, but often reveal the Mystery movement through partially skeletonized dials and unusual layouts.
Fundamentally though, from 1912 through the present day, Couët’s ingenious idea remains unchanged and one of the greatest examples of creative horology of all time.
Cartier Mystery Clocks to Know
While the first Mystery Clocks were all about showing off the special mechanism and highlighting the illusion, Cartier quickly began flexing its design muscles, creating all manner of Mystery Clocks, from the classic and understated to the completely over-the-top and exceptional, even creating a few related variations with different technology but inspired by the original idea.
The Original Model A Mystery Clock
Couët designed the original Mystery Clock to focus the viewer’s attention on the illusion at hand, but he knew that it still needed to feel like a Cartier creation if he was going to get Louis Cartier on board. The result was a clock with a white agate base, a rock-crystal case and a gold-and-diamond display, with concentric rings encircling the “floating” diamond-set hands at the center. This clock was called the ”Model A,” and is the Mystery Clock that started it all.
Cartier continued to produced the Model A for decades, eventually iterating on the design and offering it in different colors, with different stones and materials, and in different sizes. The mechanical principles remained the same, and today these clocks are about as perfect an Art Deco time capsule as one could ask for. They are quintessential Cartier through-and-through, every bit as important to the brand’s history as the Tank Normale or the Juste un Clou.
Two-Pillar Mystery Clocks
Because Couët’s mechanical system required the clock face be flanked on both sides by supports, many of the most iconic Mystery Clock designs prominently feature these all-important columns framing the clock itself. This necessity, paired with the European fashion for all things “Eastern” at the time, resulted in clocks housed in Chinese and Egyptian temples, hanging from Japanese Torii gates and the like. These ornate clocks were made from all manner of materials, including different colors of quartz, jade, rock crystal, onyx, gold and precious stones. It’s not uncommon to find a carved elephant or gem-set panther striding across the stone base of these clocks, further showing off Cartier’s incredible mastery of working with these materials.
Importantly, almost all of these clocks are unique pieces, made either by commission or as ways for Cartier to feature its skills. There are no real “models” or archetypes to speak of, with inspiration coming from every corner of the globe and designs that range from the streamlined to the baroque. This makes provenance especially important, as each clock tells its own story and represents a specific moment in the history of Cartier.
Central-Axis Mystery Clocks
By 1920, Couët had refined his original design, making it possible to drive the Mystery mechanism with just a single point of connection. This opened up a whole new realm of design possibilities for Cartier, specifically allowing large clock mechanisms to be delicately perched on top of streamlined bases, almost as if the Mystery Clock itself is a sculpture sitting atop a perfectly designed plinth.
There are examples from the 1920s that idiosyncratically combine Chinoiserie with Art Deco design and others that lean into more naturalistic motifs, with clocks perched on the backs of animals hand-carved from rare stones.
This new architecture continued to be popular with Cartier’s clients and designers, often employed to dramatic effect. The incredible Mystery Clock from circa 1980 on offer at Sotheby’s Geneva on 13 November calls back to those earlier pieces, with its hand-carved nephrite vase base supporting an incredible clock house in ornately cut rock crystal, with flame-inspired numerals and hands, all crafted from gold and set with diamonds. It invites the viewer to look from every angle, almost begging them to try to solve the mystery while ultimately delighting with new dramatic views at each turn. This clock is a great example of how Cartier continues to create unique pieces based on the original Mystery Clock principles while continuing to surprise clients with new and exciting innovations.
Cartier Prism Clocks
Cartier Prism Clocks are not, strictly speaking, Mystery Clocks, in that they do not employ the same mechanical system or optical illusion as Couët’s creations. But they are inspired by similar ideas and are often collected alongside their more complicated cousins. Introduced in 1937 and created by master watchmaker Gaston Cusin, the Prism Clock uses a series of prisms and mirrors to reflect the clock’s dial so that it can be read by the viewer at the correct angle. These are often small desktop clocks featuring mechanisms originally created for watches, with the prisms “projecting” the watch face onto a larger surface for additional legibility.
As with the Mystery Clocks, Cartier has produced a wide array of Prism Clocks over the years, though most employ relatively straightforward construction and more accessible materials, keeping prices more affordable. The most iconic Prism Clock design is classic Art Deco Cartier, with a silver-plated case reminiscent of a 1920s skyscraper, adorned with large blocks of blue lapis lazuli and containing a dial with matching bright-blue numerals and hands. More conservative models were produced in the 1980s, with sleek gold and silver cases, should you want something a bit more discrete.
So whether you’re a Cartier die-hard or just someone looking to add something unusual to their collection, the Cartier Mystery Clock remains an all-time classic design of the 20th century and an important milestone in the history of Cartier itself. You can explore the various iterations yourself or turn to a Sotheby’s jewelry specialist for help in tracking down your perfect Mystery Clock, from a small desktop prism clock to a once-in-a-lifetime piece of mechanical art.
