Cartier · Diabolo

Diabolo, 18k Yellow Gold, Quartz Date

Ref. 1420c. 1990sAlso catalogued as 1420-0

The Cartier Diabolo Ref. 1420 is a 32 mm 18k yellow gold quartz watch with date, made c. 1990s on the Cartier Cal. 87.06, with a sapphire cabochon at the end of each long lug and on the conical crown that named the model.

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Specifications

Reference
1420
32 mm, 18k yellow gold, quartz, date
Year
c. 1990s
Antiquorum, Gray & Sons and Amsterdam Watch Company date examples to the 1990s, and Monaco Legend gives 1991 for the launch of the Diabolo model; no source gives an end date
Movement
Quartz
Cartier Cal. 87.06, 7 jewels (per Piguet), center seconds and date
Case
32 mm, 18k Yellow Gold
Round, about 8.5 mm thick, with a sapphire cabochon at the end of each lug
Dial
White
Black Roman numerals, outer minute track and date; Sotheby's notes a secret Cartier signature at VII
Hands
Blued steel
Breguet style, per APONEM
Crystal
Glass
Type unsettled: Amsterdam Watch Company describes mineral glass, other listings describe sapphire, and the auction catalogs consulted do not say
Strap
Leather
Alligator or crocodile strap on an 18k yellow gold Cartier deployant clasp

Visual Description

The Ref. 1420 is a round 18k yellow gold watch, 32 mm across, with the details that define the Diabolo: long, slender lugs that each end in a blue sapphire cabochon, a broad bezel and a large crown set with another cabochon. Antiquorum gives its thickness as 8.5 mm, which makes it a substantial watch for its diameter.

The dial is white, with black Roman numerals, an outer minute track and a date, read with blued steel hands in the Breguet style and a center seconds hand. The case back is held by six screws. Examples come on alligator or crocodile straps fastened with an 18k yellow gold Cartier deployant clasp.

Reference Significance

The 1420 is the Diabolo in its plainest form and the single reference that turns up most often in the auction and dealer records we found. It carries the full 1991 design (round case, sapphire-tipped lugs, cabochon crown) without the chronograph registers of the 1400-0, the diamonds of the 1430 or the reduced size of the 1440-0 and the 1470-1 Mini.

That makes it the reference against which the rest of the family is best understood. It is also built to be worn: Antiquorum describes its example as water-resistant, and it runs on quartz and shows the date. Every 1420 in the records consulted is 18k yellow gold with a white Roman dial; no white gold or platinum example is documented.

Historical Context

The Diabolo name is older than this watch. Sotheby's traces the design, a round case with stone-set lugs and crown, to 1906, and the 1991 collection took up the same idea in the form of a modern gold watch with a conical crown.

Monaco Legend gives 1991 as the launch of the Diabolo model, and the 1420 belongs to its first decade: the auction houses and dealers consulted date their examples to the 1990s, and a 21 mm Diabolo Mini is dated to 1992, so the smaller sizes were part of the line early on.

No source we opened gives an end date for the 1420. The examples documented here have been offered by auction houses in Geneva and France and by specialist dealers.

What to Look For

Start with the case back. It should carry the reference, written 1420 or 1420 0, and a case number beginning with R; Antiquorum, Piguet and APONEM record case numbers R1806, R1647 and R3090.

Watch for one catalog slip. Sotheby's once cataloged a three-hand Diabolo with date as Ref. 1400-0, the number it uses elsewhere for the Diabolo chronograph, and the same case number appears in another sale as a 1420 0 with the three-hand Cal. 87.06. A three-hand watch with a date is a 1420; a 1400-0 should show chronograph registers.

Then the stones and the gold. Each lug tip and the crown should carry a blue sapphire cabochon, intact and matched in color. The lug tips are the most exposed part of the case, so look for crisp edges rather than the rounded, thinned look that heavy polishing leaves around the settings. The clasp should be an 18k yellow gold Cartier deployant, as on the examples sold at auction.

Finally the dial and movement. The dial should be white with crisp black Roman numerals and a date, and Sotheby's notes a secret Cartier signature at VII. The movement should be the quartz Cartier Cal. 87.06, signed like the dial and case; a hand-wound or chronograph movement belongs to a different Diabolo reference.

Known Variants

Documented dial, case, and bracelet variations of Ref. 1420.

White Roman Dial, 18k Yellow Gold

White dial with black Roman numerals, an outer minute track and a date, blued steel hands and sapphire cabochons on the lugs and crown, on a leather strap with an 18k gold Cartier deployant clasp.

c. 1990sThe only configuration in the auction and dealer records consulted; no white gold or platinum 1420 is documented

How to tell it apart

What separates a Ref. 1420 from its neighbors, and what to check before you buy or sell one.

What is the Cartier Diabolo Ref. 1420?

The time-and-date Diabolo of the 1990s: a 32 mm round case in 18k yellow gold with a sapphire cabochon at the end of each long lug and on the crown, a white dial with black Roman numerals and a date, blued steel hands and the quartz Cartier Cal. 87.06, on a leather strap with an 18k gold Cartier deployant clasp.

My papers say 1420-0. Is that the same watch?

Yes. Antiquorum, Piguet and Gray & Sons all write the number as 1420 0, with a suffix digit, and other records shorten it to 1420. Listings also write it 1420-0. All three forms describe the same 32 mm yellow gold quartz Diabolo.

How is the 1420 different from the Diabolo 1400-0?

The 1400-0 is the chronograph. Sotheby's catalogs it as a 32 mm yellow gold quartz chronograph with date on the Cal. 212P, so its dial carries subsidiary registers and its case has chronograph pushers. The 1420 is the same size but shows only the hours, minutes, seconds and date.

How is the 1420 different from the 1430, 1440-0 and 1470-1?

By size and decoration. Sotheby's catalogs the 1430 as a 31 mm yellow gold Diabolo set with diamonds. Monaco Legend catalogs the 1440-0 at 27 mm on the quartz Cal. 157.06, and Amsterdam Watch Company lists the 1470-1 as the Diabolo Mini at 21 mm. The 1420 is the plain 32 mm quartz model.

Is the Diabolo 1420 quartz or mechanical?

Quartz. Piguet names the Cartier Cal. 87.06 with 7 jewels, and every auction and dealer record we found describes a quartz movement. Hand-wound Diabolos exist on the Cartier Cal. 9P2, including a platinum Ref. 1462-1, but they are different references.

What should I check before buying a Diabolo 1420?

A sapphire cabochon on each of the four lug tips and on the crown, intact and matched in color; crisp lug tips that have not been rounded by polishing; a case back with the reference and a case number beginning with R; a white dial with crisp Roman numerals; the quartz Cal. 87.06; and an 18k yellow gold Cartier deployant clasp.
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