In 1904 Louis Cartier developed and produced the first wristwatch from the ground up. The Cartier Santos, the resultant airplane watch, was at last prepared for general utilization in 1911. Louis Cartier was dissatisfied with the Santos because the lugs remained “connected” to the case, therefore in 1918 Cartier introduced the Tank, a rectangular watch that efficiently solved the difficulty of connecting a strap to a circular watch. During the booming 1920s, the Tank nearly single-handedly made wrist-worn timepieces a fashion fad, and that trend revolutionized horology forever. The Tank allowed for infinite riffing, and the sheer number of Tank versions is mind-boggling. Cartier continued to create handcrafted, high-end watches, but the company never built movements until 2005, when it launched its beautiful, ultra-modern manufacturing facility in Switzerland. Cartier has been impressing watch aficionados with a plethora of exquisite in-house watches every year since then. We’ll walk you through the latest Cartier watch offers, and it should help you comprehend Cartier watches in general. It’s a deep and historically rich inventory, dating back to the invention of the wristwatch itself.
Cartier Santos
The Santos, arguably the first entirely new timepiece, is still one of Cartier’s most popular models. Louis Cartier designed a timepiece for pioneer pilot Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1904. A men’s wristwatch was a revolutionary notion in an era when men still depended on pocket watches; nonetheless, it was more practical for Santos-Dumont to merely glance at his wrist than delve into his pocket while operating his flying contraptions. That square watch was eventually known as the Cartier Santos-Dumont watch, and it served as the foundation for the current Cartier Santos watch, which appeared in the 1970s. Cartier revamped their whole range in 2018 with new sizes, materials, and innovative movements. The nicely screwed-down square bezel, the attractive rectangular case, and the shapely lugs are all features. Today, both quartz and mechanical types are available. Cartier’s inventory includes both the dressier Santos-Dumont and the sporty Santos watches.
Tank
The Tank, which took its name and design inspiration from the first tanks that arrived on the battlefield in WWI, is perhaps the most frequently worn and acclaimed dress watch of all time. The Tank was Louis Cartier’s answer to the lug “issue.” Since its introduction over a century ago, the Tank has gone through several variations while maintaining its signature rectangular form with brancards.
Pasha de Cartier
The Cartier Pasha, derived from early twentieth-century designs supplied to India’s governing Pashas, is obviously fancy, and hence distinctly Carter. According to legend, the Pasha watch introduced by Cartier in the 1980s was inspired by a water-resistant wristwatch created in 1933 for the Pasha of Marrakesh. Whether or not that was true remains unknown, but the athletic Cartier Pasha watch was a cult sensation in the 1980s because to its unusual design. Cartier has reintroduced the Pasha watch series for 2020, based primarily on the original 1980s generation but with several updates to bring the timepiece into the twenty-first century.
Ballon de Cartier
Following nearly a century of rectangular timepieces, Cartier introduced the Ballon de Cartier in 2007. While the Ballon Bleu is circular, it is far from a standard watch form in classic Cartier manner. The curving caseback and domed sapphire crystal provide volume to the pebble-like case. The Ballon Bleu is distinguished by its blue spiraling crown, which is safely ensconced under the incorporated crown protection. Cartier’s enthusiasm for through-design is alive and well in this product range, which is large, circular, and features a rounded crown inside a round crown guard. The 42mm case, which is accessible in all kinds of people sizes, is Cartier’s most trying assertion.
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