• Bloomberg, Tuesday, January 19, 2010 10:44 AM

Cartier has built a working prototype of an automatic watch that needs no adjusting, roughly cutting the need for watch maintenance in half, Tom Mulier reports. Cartier CEO Bernard Fornas compares the technology to the shift to electronic fuel-injection systems in cars versus carburetors and says the company will market it within three years.

"This has got very important consequences for the future of the watchmaking industry," Fornas says. "Watchmakers take a lot of time to adjust watches. This is a very, very touchy thing to do. Our discovery is to take out all these difficulties."

Mulier reports that the 163-year-old brand sees innovation as the way to gain clients from rivals as it's unsure whether luxury demand will keep improving. A Cartier watch entering the market this year -- the $117,000 Astrotourbillon -- has an accuracy-improving mechanism that rotates around the face of the watch every minute.

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