Cartier continues the theme of magic at this year's Watches and Wonders in Geneva. Conjuring up a bevvy of novelties that range from Panthère de Cartiers to Tanks, the Maison pulls back the curtain, not to reveal timepieces, but rather a performance on what they could do with some metal (precious and otherwise) and a history of watchmaking knowledge.

We begin with the Panther “Toi & Moi” bangle from the Panthère de Cartier line. This blurs the boundary between sculpture and jewellery. You have Cartier’s emblematic feline in mid-leap; it's cast in yellow gold with a coat of black lacquer spots, onyx nose, and tsavorite eyes aglow with mischief. On the other end, a watch dial with a single brilliant-cut diamond at 12 o’clock. Is the panther chasing time or is it trapped in an eternal temporal dance? It's a question to ponder over while your peers fawn over the watch/bangle. For that over-the-top option, there's also a diamond-encrusted alternative—a fully snow-set with 1,103 brilliant-cut diamonds.

With the Panthère watch, Cartier dissolves the creature into abstraction. A assemblage of animals motifs—part zebra, part tiger—dance across a snow-set dial of 145 brilliant-cut diamonds. With a brick-link bracelet, the timepiece is further interspersed with fiery spessartites in amber and gold with the lacquering process done entirely by hand within the Maison des Métiers d’Art. This is a textured beast that comes in yellow or rose gold and in three different case sizes (25 x 20 mm; 30.3 x 22 mm; 36.5 x 26.7 mm).

A woven symphony of yellow gold and precious stones, the Tressage watch bears echoes of Cartier’s Maillon, Coussin and Reflection collections. This interesting interplay of volume and structure—a rectangular case flanked by gold braids—lends itself to different itinerations: yellow gold on a black lacquer dial and a shiny black strap; a full pavé white gold version with 916 diamonds and a navy strap; a mixed gold version with 466 diamonds; and white gold combining 570 diamonds and 330 sapphires.

Now we come to the next act: the watches. The Tank Louis Cartier is bigger but it's not without cause. It needed a larger case to fit in the 1899 MC automatic manufacture movement. Even with this complication, everything is as it is—the brancards are still slim; the angles softened—only larger. The Tank Louis Cartier comes in either rose of yellow gold.

Digging into Cartier's archives, comes the revival of the Tank à Guichet model. In 1928, in a bid to present relevant time telling, Louis Cartier stripped the dial of any extraneous detail, leaving only the jumping hour and dragging minutes that are seen through apertures or "windows" (the "guichets" in question) positioned at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock respectively.

This year, however, Cartier not only brings back the original Tank à Guichet model but also a version where the windows have moved with the jumping hour at 10 o'clock (rotated 90º counter-clockwise) with the dragging minutes displayed through an arched window (at 4 o'clock). Powered by a hand-wound Calibre 9755 MC, the satin-brushed case, polished horizontal brancards feels more sculptural.

The Tank à Guichet's new look is limited to 200 pieces, while three other models (yellow gold, rose gold, and platinum) are not limited.

For more information, please visit the Cartier website