Cartier

In 1904, Cartier developed a special watch for the Brazilian pilot Alberto Santos-Dumont. And the very first square dial watch was born: the Cartier Santos. The same goes for the well-known and loved Cartier Tank with its rectangular design it’s made its debut back in 1917 and is an icon ever since. People like Elton John, Yves Saint Laurent and Calvin Klein were spotted wearing these Cartier watches.

In 1847, a 28-year-old Louis-Francois Cartier took ownership of a store run by his mentor, Adolphe Picard. Cartier established a name for himself in the industry. In 1874, his son Alfred joined the company and began to expand their watchmaking department. The goal was to create Cartier clocks, watch pendants for necklaces and wristwatches.

In 1888, diamonds-studded women’s watches were released. Cartier was one of the pioneers when it comes to wristwatches, because the time was told with pocket watches, and not with wristwatches.

Back in the day, the business split up in three departments just after the death of Louis Cartier in 1942. It became Cartier Paris, Cartier London and Cartier New York. Until the late 70s the stayed separate, but then it became Cartier Monde SA. Nowadays, Cartier is part of the Richemont Group, which also houses Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre and A. Lange & Söhne.

During the First World War, Cartier released the very first Cartier Tank with a rectangular design which was completely new. Since the beginning of the Cartier Tank, a lot of different models were developed, like the Tank Anglaise or the Tank Solo. This Tank Solo measured 24mm and has twelve Roman numerals on the dial. A pre-owned or vintage Tank Solo will cost you around €2.000 for a well-maintained piece on Wristler.

Later on, Cartier developed the all-new Cartier Tank XL which measures 31mm. Prices of these watches range from €3.000 to €4.000. If you’re in the market for a more elegant Cartier Tank, you can opt for the Tank Americaine. For example, the reference WB710008 is a quartz powered women’s watch with an 18-karat rose gold case and bracelet. 49-brilliant-cut diamonds adorn the bezel, and it features a silver-plated dial with the well-known Roman numerals. You can call one of these pieces your own for around €28.000.

The first ever watch for pilots was a Cartier Santos, debuting back in 1904. Cartier designed this watch for the Brazilian pilot Alberto Santos-Dumont. In 1906, Santos-Dumont performed the first public engine-powered flight.

Thanks to the amazing design and story behind the watch, you can get your hands on a vintage Cartier Santos, or find yourself a newer one from the 2018 collection. In 2018, these models feature the in-house caliber 1847 MC and can withstand magnetic fields up to 1.200 gauss.

The reference WJSA0012 measures 35mm, but the case is made of 18-karat rose gold with brilliant-cut diamonds. These pieces will cost you roughly €20.000.

Back in 2020, Cartier presented the reference WSSA0039 which was a solid black Cartier Santos measuring 39mm and boasts an ADLC (amorphous diamond-like carbon) coating. The numerals are Roman and white, while the dial is black.

Cartier released the Pasha collection in the 80s, but in 2020 Cartier developed a new line within these watches. The watches for men now measure 41mm while the women’s measure 35mm. You can opt for stainless-steel, yellow gold or rose gold. The crown on these watches is made of blue sapphire and the first ever own in-house caliber 1847 MC was used in these watches as well. 

It comes with a 40-hour power reserve. Prices for these watches sit around €5.000 for the stainless-steel one, and if you like your Cartier Pasha to be gold, get ready to spend €15.000 for a pre-owned or vintage Cartier Pasha.

If you’re in the market for your favorite Cartier watch, there are a lot of options you can consider. For starters, there are some amazing vintage Cartier Tank watches available on Wristler, starting at roughly €2.000 for a well-maintained piece. These watches feature some amazing leather bracelets and gold- or gold-plated cases.

If you’re willing to spend a little more cash, you can opt for the Cartier Santos-Dumont XL or the Santos the Cartier, which will cost you between €5.500 and €7.500.

There are some other models in the Cartier collection as well, like the Roadster and Ballon Blue. These watches are made for both men and women and will cost you between €6.000 and €7.000.

Finally, the king of the rock. The Cartier Pasha de Cartier reference HPI00365 is made of white gold, with a manual 9613 MC caliber and a chained crown cover. This watch will cost you at least €120.000 if you’re lucky enough to get your hands on this beautiful piece.