Visual Description
The Allongée is the Baignoire oval drawn out to about 24 × 53 mm and about 8 mm thick, more than twice as long as it is wide. The 18k gold case curves along its length, with hooded lugs and a cabochon sapphire crown, and Antiquorum describes its examples' dials as signed Cartier London.
Dials are cream or white with black Roman numerals that stretch toward the ends of the oval. Two examples have dark blue dials with white numerals, and a white gold example of 1971 has a gray dial.
Reference Significance
Phillips describes the Allongée as a series launched by Cartier London in the late 1960s. The auction records consulted give it no reference number; each watch is identified by its case number, which on at least one example is repeated on the clasp.
The Allongée is also the shape behind the Crash: Phillips calls it the muse behind the Crash, and Sotheby's describes the Crash as the Allongée with its sides pinched and its middle kinked. The 1991 numbered reissue has its own page, the Ref. W1507451.
Historical Context
The dated examples cluster in 1969, the year of the London hallmarks on watches sold by Antiquorum and Bonhams.
Later examples run into the 1970s: Monaco Legend has sold a white gold example of 1971 and a yellow gold one of about 1976.
No source consulted gives a production figure. In 1991 Cartier reissued the model as a numbered edition of 400, the W1507451.
What to Look For
Check the case number against the clasp and look for London hallmarks inside the case. Phillips notes matching numbers on the case and clasp of one example, with the clasp stamped with hallmarks dated 1969 and JC for Jacques Cartier.
The dial should be signed Cartier London and the movement signed Jaeger-LeCoultre, which Antiquorum gives as the cal. 8¼''' with 17 jewels. The case should measure about 23–24 × 52–53 mm; the much larger Maxi Oval is a different watch.
