The Archive

Cartier

Founded in Paris in 1847, Cartier has defined the aesthetic of the luxury wristwatch for over a century.

Collections: 24 collections
Model families: 38 model families
References: 185 references
Photographed: 66 photographed

Have one and not sure what it is? Start from the case back or read its hallmarks

Santos

From 1904 · 4 models

From 1904 · 9 references

Santos Dumont

The slim dress version of the Santos, the watch Louis Cartier made in 1904 for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont.

From 1978 · 5 references

Santos

The 1978 Santos: Cartier's first watch in steel, with gold screws on the bezel and bracelet.

From 1987 · 11 references

Santos Galbée

The 1987 Santos redesign: a curved case and integrated bracelet, made mostly with quartz movements.

Ref. 1910Photograph wanted

From c. 1990 · 8 references

Santos Ronde

The Santos in a round case, in steel, steel and gold, or 18k gold: automatic, most with a date at 3 o'clock, or quartz in the ladies' 81913 and 187903.

Diabolo

From 1906

From 1906 · 4 references

Diabolo

A round Cartier with sapphire-tipped lugs and a conical crown, launched in 1991 from a design Sotheby's traces to 1906.

Tonneau

From 1906

From 1906 · 2 references

Tonneau

Louis Cartier's barrel-shaped wristwatch of 1906, his second design after the Santos Dumont, made in hand-wound gold and platinum versions since the late 1980s.

Baignoire

From 1912

From 1912 · 10 references

Cartier Baignoire

Cartier's oval wristwatch: hand-wound in gold in the 1960s and 1970s, reissued as the Allongée in 1991, and quartz in the 1990s.

Tortue

From 1912

From 1912 · 5 references

Cartier Tortue

Cartier's tonneau-shaped Tortue of 1912: a thin gold Extra Plate in the 1970s and a single-button chronograph in the Collection Privée from 1998.

Tank

From 1917 · 12 models

From 1917 · 1 reference

Tank Normale

The first Cartier Tank, designed by Louis Cartier in 1917 with flat, squared brancards, and made again in 18k gold in the 1970s and 1980s as the hand-wound Ref. 78092.

Tank Cintrée (1921)Photograph wanted

From 1921 · 2 references

Tank Cintrée

The curved Tank of 1921: a long rectangular case bent from end to end to follow the wrist, made in 18k gold and platinum with hand-wound movements.

Ref. 1380Photograph wanted

From c. 1922 · 1 reference

Tank Allongée

The stretched Tank: a narrow, elongated rectangle that Analog/Shift dates to 1922, made as a small mechanical Paris watch in the 1970s and as the quartz Ref. 1380 from the 1980s.

Tank Chinoise (1922)Photograph wanted

From 1922 · 1 reference

Tank Chinoise

Cartier's square Tank of 1922, with a raised bar across each end of the case, made in 18k yellow gold with hand-wound movements and no reference number into the 1970s.

From 1922 · 11 references

Tank Louis Cartier

The 1922 refinement of Louis Cartier's Tank, with brancards rounded at the outer edge.

From 1923 · 3 references

Tank Obus

The Tank with bullet-shaped lugs, named for the French word for shell: made since the 1920s, as a quartz watch from the 1980s to about 2005, and hand-wound for the Collection Privée.

From 1928 · 1 reference

Tank à Guichets

The jump-hour Tank of 1928, remembered in a 150-piece platinum edition for Cartier's 150th anniversary.

From 1932 · 5 references

Tank Basculante

The Tank that turns its face away: a case that swings inside its frame to protect the dial, from 1932 and revived in steel in the 1990s.

From 1936 · 1 reference

Tank Asymétrique

A Tank tilted off its axis: the 1936 Parallélogramme, revived in 1996 as a numbered limited edition.

From 1977 · 3 references

Tank Must

Cartier's Tank in vermeil, gold-plated sterling silver, from the Les Must de Cartier line of the mid-1970s.

From 1989 · 11 references

Tank Américaine

Cartier's curved Tank of 1989: an update of the Tank Cintrée that keeps its curved front brancards, elongated dial and stretched numerals on a simpler case with a flat back.

Ref. W51002Q3Photograph wanted

From 1996 · 11 references

Tank Française

Cartier's Tank on an integrated bracelet, introduced in 1996 in steel, steel and gold, and 18k yellow gold.

Cloche

From 1920

From 1920 · 1 reference

Cloche de Cartier

The bell-shaped Cartier: a watch-brooch in 1920, a wristwatch from 1921, and a numbered gold edition of 200 in the 1990s.

Ceinture

From 1927

From 1927 · 3 references

Ceinture

A square gold watch with cut corners shaped like a belt buckle, first made in 1927 and relaunched in the 1973 Louis Cartier Collection in 25 mm and 27 mm sizes.

Crash

From 1967

From 1967 · 3 references

Cartier Crash

Cartier's asymmetric, distorted watch, designed at Cartier London in 1967 and issued by Cartier Paris as a numbered edition of 400 in 1991.

Chambord

From 1970

From c. 1970 · 1 reference

Chambord

A thin, cushion-shaped Cartier Paris dress watch of the 1970s and 1980s, hand-wound and cased in 18k yellow gold.

Gondole

From 1972

From c. 1972 · 2 references

Gondole

An oversized stepped gold case from the early 1970s Louis Cartier Collection, made upright or wide, hand-wound and signed Paris on the dial.

Pebble

From 1972

London PebblePhotograph wanted

From 1972 · 1 reference

Pebble

Cartier London's round gold watch with a square dial, made in the early 1970s and nicknamed the Baseball in the United States.

Bamboo

From 1973

From c. 1973 · 1 reference

Coussin Bamboo

A cushion-shaped Cartier of the 1970s whose gold bezel and lugs are grooved like bamboo, introduced around 1973 in the Louis Cartier Collection and made in small numbers.

Cristallor

From 1973

From 1973 · 2 references

Cristallor

A faceted gold rectangle with a three-tiered stepped bezel, introduced in the 1973 Louis Cartier Collection and named for the jewel-like effect of its case.

Ellipse

From 1973

From 1973 · 2 references

Ellipse

A stepped gold oval laid on its side, flat at the top and bottom and swelling at the sides, introduced in the 1973 Louis Cartier Collection in a large and a small size.

Fabergé

From 1973

From 1973 · 2 references

Fabergé

A curved, rounded rectangle from the 1973 Louis Cartier Collection, named for the Russian court jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé and made in a large and a small size.

Vendôme

From 1973

From 1973 · 8 references

Vendôme

Cartier's round Vendôme, named after the Place Vendôme in Paris: a 33 mm hand-wound gold watch in the Ref. 78090, and 24 mm quartz models in vermeil and in gold.

Panthère

From 1983

From 1983 · 17 references

Panthère de Cartier

Cartier's quartz watch with an integrated bracelet, introduced in 1983 and made in stainless steel and 18k gold.

Calandre

From 1985

From by 1985 · 1 reference

Calandre

A small ladies' gold watch shaped like a stirrup, with an arched case and an upright top lug, made on quartz from the 1980s.

Pasha

From 1985

From 1985 · 24 references

Pasha de Cartier

Cartier's round Pasha of 1985, with a cap over the crown: 38 mm in gold from the 1980s, later also in steel, with or without a protective grille.

Colisée

From 1988

From c. 1988 · 1 reference

Must de Cartier Colisée

A small round vermeil quartz watch from the Must de Cartier line, cataloged at auction from about 1988.

Cougar

From 1989

From 1989 · 8 references

Cougar

The round-cased member of Cartier's Panthère collection, launched in 1989: a quartz watch with a date at 3 o'clock and an integrated link bracelet, in a 33 mm and a 26 mm size.

Must

From 1989

From 1989 · 2 references

Must de Cartier 21

The round steel Must watch with a wide bezel, introduced in 1989 according to La Souveraine's catalog: quartz, in steel or steel with gold, and made in several sizes.

Ronde

From 1994

Ref. 0900Photograph wanted

From c. 1994 · 1 reference

Ronde Louis Cartier

Cartier's round dress watch at its plainest: a slim gold case, a guilloché dial and a hand-wound movement.