Pasha de Cartier Skeleton Dragon Motif watch

This watch, presented at Watches & Wonders currently running in Hong Kong, is of course perfect for the Chinese market with its dragon motif, but Cartier has in fact been utilizing Chinese motifs from the late 19th century. The Pasha de Cartier 42 mm Skeleton Dragon Motif watch is a splendid sight, interweaving diamond-set bands forming the dragon, with the movement part hidden, part in view, but corresponding to the parts of the dragon. The bridges and movement were designed together, just as in the Santos 100 Skeleton in which the movement is supported by the giant Roman numerals. In this piece, the Calibre 9617 MC in-house movement is set with 233 diamonds, with a marquise-cut tsavorite for the eye of the dragon on the front. From the back, the watch is equally fascinating, with engraving on the bridges. Both watchglass and caseback are in transparent sapphire, and the movement is manually-wound, so that there is no oscillating weight to block the view.

The crown is an elaborate component, large and with a brilliant-cut diamond. There are three versions of the watch: with black alligator strap, in an individually-numbered edition; with a bracelet in white gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds, in an edition limited to 20 pieces; or with baguette-cut diamonds in an edition limited to 10 pieces. The case is in white gold, the hands in blued steel. Power reserve is about 72 hours.