Visual Description
The Ref. 183949 is the medium Panthère, 27 mm wide; WannaBuyAWatch gives 27 × 35 mm. The stainless steel case carries an 18k yellow gold bezel held by screws and runs into a bracelet of steel and gold links that closes with a double folding clasp.
The dial is white, cream or champagne, with Roman numerals, a date at 5 o'clock and a center seconds hand, read by blued steel sword hands.
Reference Significance
The 183949 is the steel and gold version of the medium Panthère, the size of the stainless steel Ref. 1310 and smaller than the 29 mm steel and gold Jumbo Ref. 187957. WannaBuyAWatch calls it the man's size, as distinct from the man's XL.
The Ref. 1100 matches it in size, metals and movement and differs in the number on the case back and in date. Fellows catalogs both as a steel case with a yellow metal bezel, 26 to 27 mm, with the date at five, giving the Cal. 83 for a 183949 and the Cal. 87.06 for most 1100s.
Historical Context
Dealers date the 183949 to the 1980s: WannaBuyAWatch sold one with its Cartier warranty booklet dated 1988, and Analog/Shift dates another to the decade.
Medium steel and gold Panthères with case numbers beginning 83949 are cataloged from about 1980 to about 1990, one purchased in April 1986 according to Bonhams. Whether 83949 is a form of 183949 is not documented, so read the number on the watch itself.
What to Look For
Read the case back for 183949 and a serial. The bracelet should have all its links and a double folding clasp that closes firmly, with the gold of the bezel and the bracelet matching in color. Check that the bezel screws are undamaged, that the date at 5 o'clock changes and the center seconds runs, that the Roman numerals are clean and the hands blued, and that the quartz movement runs. A Cartier warranty booklet helps place a particular watch within the run.
