And yet there is a paradoxical nature to the modern-day brand, in that it has mastered the most difficult of tasks: remaining extremely desirable while achieving widespread commercial success. Ranked by Morgan Stanley as the second-largest watchmaker in the world, after Rolex, the availability of Cartier’s staple designs has done nothing to diminish its lustre. In fact, you could argue it has only intensified the appeal of vintage Cartier, which is vastly rarer. Until the 1960s, annual production for wristwatches is estimated to have been fewer than 1,000 pieces a year.
At this point, led by the energetic Jean-Jaques Cartier in London, Cartier watchmaking - as opposed to jewellery, which remained its primary business - really began to take off, both creatively and commercially as the brand repositioned itself to cater to a new clientele of actors, rock stars and socialites of the Swinging Sixties. The designs that have captured the imagination in recent years were actually a bit too daring for most - but the Tank Louis Cartier achieved new levels of popularity. It became the ‘it’ watch for artists and aristocrats alike, from Andy Warhol to Jackie Kennedy - and one look at our example from 1964 and 655 (See lots 26 and 27) is enough to understand why.
Cartier Paris was not to be outdone, responding with its own designs that yet again epitomised the brand’s ability to play with shapes and create elegant dress watches. In a surprising turn - no pun intended - for anyone believing that Jaeger-LeCoultre has something of a monopoly on rotating cases, Cartier made its own reversible pieces in the 1970s. Less idiosyncratic perhaps than the Tank Basculante of the 1930s, but less fragile and more wearable as a result. Alain Delon was a fan. With a second display on its underside, the watch could display two different time zones; you can characterise it as a design in Cartier’s classic tradition or as a reaction to the turmoil that had begun to affect the entire watch industry, depending on your perspective. It was undeniably a tumultuous time for Cartier: the fourth generation of the family had sold the business, and in the 1970s all three ‘temples’ were reunited under the same ownership. At the same time, manufacturing operations for Cartier watches moved to Switzerland, never to return. The next decade would see remarkable shifts for the business, which was ultimately kept afloat by licensing deals for everything from cigarette lighters to sunglasses and even the Lincoln Continental coupé. On a horological front, it introduced the Must de Cartier range, which brought the Tank’s familiar lines to new audience and eventually proved successful enough for the brand to reign in the widespread use of its name and consolidate its business on watches and jewellery once more.
For the collector, however, the 1970s holds perhaps the richest seam of Cartier designs - certainly the most characteristic and individual. The brand’s ability to introduce new shapes over the decades has been one of its enduring strengths - take for example the Pasha, Ballon Bleu or even the Roadster, a 21st-century spin on its timeless tonneau silhouette - but the 1970s collections push things into more polarising territory. In today’s market, that bold character is in high demand, be it in the form of the fluid organic lines of the Coussin “Bamboo” or the more approachable Gondolo, which came in both ‘portrait’ and ‘landscape’ iterations. The wider version, an example of which can be found in this watch auction (See lot 14) is a perfect bridge between Cartier old and new - at once entirely of its age, and also entirely timeless. And that really is Cartier in its essence.
