A watch from one of the luxury / lifestyle greats this time, Cartier.
(Click pictures to enlarge)
Founded by Louis-Francois Cartier in Paris in 1847, Cartier is one of the worlds most recognisable brands. While known primarily for their jewellery, Cartier has a history of watch production dating back to 1907.
Although Cartier have had a number of other successful watches over the years, their most recognisable models are undoubtedly the Santos (left) and the Tank which both typify Cartier’s distinctive style.
The earliest Santos was the first wristwatch ever produced by Cartier and was made specifically for the pioneering pilot and family friend, Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian flying legend who had complained that pocket watches were unreliable and dangerous to use while flying.
The Tank was developed by Louis Cartier in 1917 after seeing Renault Tanks in action on the Western Front. It quickly became a design classic and is one of Cartier’s most popular models. Both models have undergone several iterations over the years and are still in their line-up today.
For the majority of their history Cartier used calibres from other suppliers to power their watches rather than having their own manufacturing facilities. Although they used calibres from names such as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and Girard Perregaux, their lack of in-house calibres prevented them from being thought of as a true manufacturer in the eyes of the purist.
This changed in 2007 however when Richemont SA, the parent company of Cartier, acquired the production facilities of Manufacture Roger Dubuis in Geneva. As a result, since 2008 the majority of Cartier’s mechanical watches have featured in-house calibres, including high-end models with a flying-tourbillon and ornate skeleton movements such as the cal. 9617 MC in the Pasha de Cartier collection.
For any interested readers, this article from the US magazine WatchTime charts Cartiers entry into the world of haute horlogerie.
The watch in this post was originally bought in the US and was inherited by the current owner. Given the family history, it was sent to Cartier for restoration but the estimate was let’s say… ‘unrealistic’, as is the norm for the majority of the luxury brands, so it was returned to a drawer until the owner contacted me some sixteen years later to see if I could help.
As you can see from the first picture, the watch had seen better days. There was no sign of life from the movement, the crown turned freely, the crystal was scratched and the case heavily tarnished. Inside the watch is a Cartier cal. 2512 which is an ETA based 17 jewel, manually wound calibre with a beat rate of 21,600 bph.
Overall the condition of the movement wasn’t too bad and the problem with the winding stem was quickly uncovered when the movement was disassembled.
With a new stem sourced, the rest of the movement service was straight forward. The case was cleaned and given a light polish to restore the shine, a new crystal fitted and a cabochon fitted into the crown to replace the missing original. Here’s the watch all finished up…
It’s always a pleasure to liberate watches from drawers and put them back into service and especially so when there is a family connection involved.
Rich.
** Many thanks to Linda Alexander for letting me feature her watch on the blog. **
