Embargoes are meant to be respected – if, that is, you don’t want to find yourself ostracised by the brand you betrayed. I am reliably informed, however, that among the items I was shown at Cartier a few weeks ago, the one watch in the entire collection that I fell most in love with can be written about now without restraint.
As one whose personal interest in watches concerns military and sport pieces, with only passing attention paid to dress watches or complications and none whatsoever for bling, my choice among all the new Cartier Fine Watchmaking offerings, due for unveiling next month at SIHH, is atypical. Precious metals, skeletonising – these are not details that float my boat. But, damn, I’ve fallen hard for the Cartier Crash Skeleton. Cartier Crash Skeleton
A little history: the Cartier Crash Watch is described on Cartier?s site with this succinct paragraph: ?Created in 1967 in the heart of Swinging London, the Crash watch captures the incredible energy of the city at that time. With its asymmetrical dial, it revolutionised the aesthetic codes of watchmaking history. Always released in very limited series, this legendary piece carries the prestige of rarity.?
That may not be enough whet your whistle, so it?s worth recounting an oft-told tale, much of which is deemed apocryphal, but which has entered watch lore. It?s a story you couldn?t make up.
When the first Crash watches were released by Cartier of London, the territories were independ...