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The house of Cartier

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The house

Cartier

Founded
1847
Country
France
Based in
Paris

Cartier was a Paris jeweller before it was a watchmaker, and it shows: the house thinks in shapes where the Swiss think in movements. That is not a criticism. Almost every non-round watch case in wide use today is a Cartier idea.

In 1904 Louis Cartier made a flat, square-ish watch for his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, the Brazilian aviator, who could not read a pocket watch while flying. The Santos is generally taken to be the first wristwatch designed for a man to do a job in. The Tank followed in 1917, its lines borrowed from the tracks of a Renault tank seen from above.

Cartier has made its share of serious movements, and its Fine Watchmaking collection is taken seriously by people who care about such things. But the house's real achievement is a century of shapes that still look modern — the Crash, the Baignoire, the Pebble — made by a jeweller who never accepted that a watch had to be a circle.

Known for

  • Santos de CartierWSSA0018

    1904, and arguably the first purpose-built pilot’s watch.

  • TankWSTA0041

    A 1917 shape that has never needed redrawing.

  • Ballon BleuWGBB0046

    The modern Cartier, with the crown tucked into the case.

Before you buy one

Know whether you are buying quartz or mechanical before you negotiate: both are legitimate Cartiers and they are not priced alike.

Check the cabochon — the blue stone in the crown — is present and unchipped, and that a leather strap carries the Cartier deployant if the price assumes it. Older Tanks were made in several case sizes with the same name; measure rather than trust the listing.

Luxigate doesn’t authenticate pieces. For anything you’re serious about, have it checked independently before you pay. How buying works

Last revised 22 Oct 2026.

On the floor

Cartier on Luxigate