Cartier Rare Watches Exhibition
Eqotime has taken a look at the new Tudor Ranger, a watch with a solid history tested under tough conditions.
Text/photo: Aleksandar Mladenovic
Between 3 and 12 November Cartier exhibited 35 historical watches during their Rare Watches Exhibition in Geneva. Eqotime had the great honour of being able to attend during an evening where many unique watches were gathered under one and the same roof for the first time.
A glimpse into their archive
Since 1970 Cartier have gathered early creations that they have manufactured, everything from wristwatches to pocket watches, jewellery and other valuable objects. In 1983 the Cartier Collection was started, which can be likened to their own museum. Today their own archive contains creations from the 1850s to as late as the 2000s. The collection contains roughly 3,500 different objects but is growing steadily.
Over a couple of evenings in their boutique on Rue du Rhône 35 in Geneva they held an exhibition where 35 different watches and pocket watches were proudly shown. Everything from Fred Astaire's Tank Cintrée to two of the three known examples of the Cartier Cheich (where the third known example was recently sold for around 10 million kronor to an American collector at Sotheby’s)
Besides exhibiting historically important watches from different eras, it was also possible to talk with Raphael Abeillon, senior watch designer at Cartier, as well as with a watchmaker who showed dials, cases, crystals and other parts from the manufacturing process.
Below follows a cavalcade of pictures of some of the most interesting objects that were shown.
Cartier Tank
A couple of watches from one of their most legendary collections – Tank
Cartier London
Below follow a couple of watches manufactured by Cartier London during the 1960-1980s
And here a selection of different watches, including the first(?) Pasha from 1943.
Cartier Metiers d’art & Fine Watchmaking
A couple of pictures from their Metiers d’art, Fine Watchmaking and from their Special Order and design work.
Cartier Pebble 2022
Naturally they showed their latest exclusive re-issue, the limited edition (150 examples) of the Cartier Pebble. The measurements are close to the original's (36mm compared to 35,4mm and somewhat thicker at 6,3mm compared to 5,3mm). Inside ticks their thin and manual Manufacture 430 MC.
The price tag is 40,000€ which can be seen as a relatively high one compared to other watches from their Collection Privé (this launch is standalone).
