Small clock in gilded bronze and cloisonné enamel depicting a crane from the house of Cartier to be auctioned by Ader Watches in Belgium on November 17th, 2025. Photo courtesy Cartier. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette

Cranes are one of nature’s curious creatures. Their long legs and equally long necks outfit them with a certain elegance and unique sense of style. They seem to bend with the wind. They are very large birds, often regarded as the world’s tallest flying birds. They are waders, too, with their long legs and necks that are perfectly suited to wade the waters and the wetlands. This unique small clock in gilded bronze and cloisonné enamel depicts a crane in all of its bends and turns. This timepiece belonged to Jeanne Toussaint, the legendary artistic director of the house of Cartier who had this piece transformed in the Cartier workshops in 1942. The first woman to run a high jewellery workshop, she would elevate the house’s infamous panther into an icon. The auction house of Ader Watches will be auctioning off, in Belgium, this coveted crane on November 17th. The timing is quite right, in October and November the European common cranes migrate, by the tens of thousands,  stopping off near the shores of the Der Lake in eastern France.  Special to The Gourmet Gazette https://aderwatches.com/en

Small clock in gilded bronze and cloisonné enamel depicting a crane from the house of Cartier to be auctioned by Ader Watches in Belgium on November 17th, 2025. Photo courtesy Cartier. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette