What is a Cartier Vendôme Ref. 881001 worth?

Public auction and dealer results for Ref. 881001 from November 2023 to November 2026 come to $3,350 to $8,050, with a median of $5,650 across 4 sales of this exact reference. The most recent was $3,600 at Bonhams in October 2026. Condition, service history, and the original box and papers move an individual watch within that range.

What is the Vendôme Ref. 881001?

A round 30 mm Vendôme in 18k yellow gold with a quartz movement, a white dial with Roman numerals and a railroad minute track, and blued hands. Antiquorum catalogs it as the 881001 and as the 81001, with the cal. 81 and 9 jewels on one example. Dated examples run from the 1980s to the 1990s.

Are 81001 and 881001 the same reference?

The catalogs describe the same watch under both numbers. Antiquorum prints Ref. 881001 on a 30 mm 18k yellow gold quartz Vendôme of the 1990s and Ref. 81001 on three more lots of the same size, metal and movement, one of them case number 810013572: 81001 followed by the serial. Aguttes prints No. 881001 on a 30 mm 18k yellow gold quartz watch of about 1990.

How is the 881001 different from the 881003?

Both are 30 mm quartz Vendômes on the cal. 81. The 881003 is the Vendôme Trinity, with a bezel in yellow, white and pink gold. The 881001 is in 18k yellow gold alone.

How is the 881001 different from the Must de Cartier Vendôme 590003?

The 590003 is also 30 mm and quartz, but its case is vermeil, gold-plated sterling silver, on the Cartier cal. 690. The 881001 is solid 18k yellow gold. Check the hallmarks on the case back.

Is there a smaller version?

Yes. The 881002 is a 24 mm ladies' Vendôme in 18k yellow gold, quartz, also dated by Antiquorum to the 1990s.

Cartier · Vendôme

Vendôme, 18k Yellow Gold, Quartz, 30 mm

Ref. 881001c. 1980s–1990sAlso cataloged as 81001

The Cartier Vendôme Ref. 881001 is a 30 mm 18k yellow gold quartz Vendôme with a white Roman numeral dial, made c. 1980s–1990s on the Cartier cal. 81 per Antiquorum; its case back reads 81001 and a serial.

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Recent sales of Ref. 881001: $3,350 to $8,050, median $5,650 across 4 sales of this exact reference, Nov 2023 to Nov 2026. What's yours worth?

Only sales that name Ref. 881001 or 81001 count here.

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Specifications

Reference: 881001; 30 mm, 18k yellow gold, quartz, white Roman numeral dial
Year: c. 1980s–1990s; Antiquorum dates examples to the 1980s and to the 1990s; Aguttes dates one circa 1990, sold with an international guarantee dated 19 July 1990
Movement: Quartz; Cartier cal. 81, 9 jewels, per Antiquorum; another Antiquorum lot gives only an ETA caliber
Case: 30 mm, 18k Yellow Gold
Dial: White; Roman numerals and a railroad minute track, signed
Hands: Blued steel; Blued, as Antiquorum catalogs them
Crystal: Not stated in the catalogs consulted
Strap: Leather strap or 18k gold Cartier bracelet; Leather strap with an 18k yellow gold Cartier deployant clasp or buckle, or an 18k yellow gold Cartier bracelet with a deployant clasp

Visual Description

The 881001 is a round Vendôme in 18k yellow gold, 30 mm across, with the Vendôme's lugs and a white dial carrying Roman numerals and a railroad minute track. Antiquorum describes blued hands. It comes on a leather strap with an 18k yellow gold Cartier deployant clasp or buckle, or on an 18k yellow gold Cartier bracelet; Antiquorum has sold one on a rouleau bracelet.

Reference Significance

The 881001 is the plain yellow gold Vendôme in the larger 30 mm size, the gold counterpart of the vermeil Must de Cartier Ref. 590003 and the single-gold sibling of the three-color Ref. 881003, the Vendôme Trinity. The smaller gold model is the 24 mm Ref. 881002.

Catalogs print the reference two ways. Antiquorum gives 881001 on one lot and 81001 on three more of the same size, metal and movement, and the case back of one of them reads 810013572, the 81001 run into the serial. Aguttes prints No. 881001 on its example.

Historical Context

Antiquorum dates examples to the 1980s and the 1990s, and Aguttes dates one circa 1990, sold with an international guarantee dated 19 July 1990. Antiquorum gives the movement as the Cartier cal. 81 with 9 jewels on an example of the 1990s; another of its lots gives only an ETA caliber.

The 881001 changes hands mainly at auction: Antiquorum sold examples in Milan in April 2025, in Geneva in November 2025 and in Monaco in December 2025.

What to Look For

Read the case back: it should carry 81001 followed by a serial, as on Antiquorum's 810013572, with 18k gold hallmarks. A 30 mm Vendôme in gold-plated silver is the Must de Cartier 590003, and a bezel in three golds marks the 881003.

Check the dial for a clean white surface and crisp Roman numerals, and the lugs and bezel for polishing. A quartz movement signed Cartier is what the catalogs describe. A Cartier gold bracelet or deployant clasp, a box and a guarantee all add to the record.

Known Variants

Documented dial, case, and bracelet variations of Ref. 881001.

Leather Strap

On a leather strap with an 18k yellow gold Cartier deployant clasp, as Antiquorum catalogs an example of the 1990s on the cal. 81, or with an 18k gold buckle, as on Antiquorum's 1990s example sold with its box and guarantee.

c. 1990sDocumented at auction

18k Gold Cartier Bracelet

On an 18k yellow gold Cartier bracelet with a deployant clasp: Antiquorum sold case 810013572 in April 2025 on a rouleau bracelet and again in December 2025.

c. 1980s (one dated example)Documented at one auction house

How to tell it apart

What separates a Ref. 881001 from its neighbors, and what to check before you buy or sell one.

What is a Cartier Vendôme Ref. 881001 worth?: Public auction and dealer results for Ref. 881001 from November 2023 to November 2026 come to $3,350 to $8,050, with a median of $5,650 across 4 sales of this exact reference. The most recent was $3,600 at Bonhams in October 2026. Condition, service history, and the original box and papers move an individual watch within that range.
What is the Vendôme Ref. 881001?: A round 30 mm Vendôme in 18k yellow gold with a quartz movement, a white dial with Roman numerals and a railroad minute track, and blued hands. Antiquorum catalogs it as the 881001 and as the 81001, with the cal. 81 and 9 jewels on one example. Dated examples run from the 1980s to the 1990s.
Are 81001 and 881001 the same reference?: The catalogs describe the same watch under both numbers. Antiquorum prints Ref. 881001 on a 30 mm 18k yellow gold quartz Vendôme of the 1990s and Ref. 81001 on three more lots of the same size, metal and movement, one of them case number 810013572: 81001 followed by the serial. Aguttes prints No. 881001 on a 30 mm 18k yellow gold quartz watch of about 1990.
How is the 881001 different from the 881003?: Both are 30 mm quartz Vendômes on the cal. 81. The 881003 is the Vendôme Trinity, with a bezel in yellow, white and pink gold. The 881001 is in 18k yellow gold alone.
How is the 881001 different from the Must de Cartier Vendôme 590003?: The 590003 is also 30 mm and quartz, but its case is vermeil, gold-plated sterling silver, on the Cartier cal. 690. The 881001 is solid 18k yellow gold. Check the hallmarks on the case back.
Is there a smaller version?: Yes. The 881002 is a 24 mm ladies' Vendôme in 18k yellow gold, quartz, also dated by Antiquorum to the 1990s.