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Cartier, the “Jeweller of Kings and King of Jewellers”

Cartier has been called the “Jeweller of Kings and King of Jewellers” by no less than King Edward VII of England. It has become the Royal purveyor of Royalties in Russia, Serbia, Orleans, Siam, Portugal and more. It is said that a total of 27 crowns were designed by Cartier for various coronation rites.

Maison Cartier was founded in 1847 when the master of Louis-Francois Cartier took over his master’s jewellery workshop in Montorgueil, Paris. Fifty years later Cartier moved its location at 13 rue de la Paix which is its present address. Maison Cartier progressed and eventually spread its “wings” through the labour of Louis-Francois Cartier’s three grandsons namely Jacques, Louis and Pierre. The three brothers travelled all over the world to source for “inspirations”. By the turn of the 20th century, Cartier had opened up a branch in London (1902) and in New York (1909). It was also right about this time that Cartier’s fame as a jeweller became known.

In 1888, Cartier first lady’s wristwatch was created. However, it was not until 1904 that Louis Cartier designed and created the “Santos” wristwatch for his aviator friend Brazilian Santos-Dumont. When Maison Cartier moved to its new (and present) location, Louis Cartier’s fascination with watches led him to design the “mystery clock” (transparent dial), highly innovative and fashionable designs, exotic and Oriental, Art Deco-ish.

In no time at all, Cartier started designing different watch creations. In 1907, Cartier contracted Edmund Jaeger to be its exclusive movement supplier. In 1906, Cartier came out with the Tonneau watch. In 1911 the Santos de Cartier was launched, inspired by the 1904 model. In 1912 the Tortue watch was launched. In 1919, the Tank watch was launched, and in 1926 the Baguette watch was created. In 1957 the Baignoire watch debuted, Panthere watch in 1983, Pasha de Cartier (1985), Tank Francaise in 1996 and the Collection Privee Cartier. This collection is composed of the finest watches of Cartier: Roadster watch (2002), Santos 100 watch (2004) and the Pasha 42 mm (2005).

The Tank Francaise watch has its bracelet integrated into its case. This shows an uninterrupted line with its square stainless steel bezel, a fixed stainless bezel and a flexible steel link bracelet with a clasp. It has a scratch resistant sapphire window protects the white-grained dial. The watch has a Calibre 175 A Swiss-quartz movement.

The Pasha de Cartier watch was initially designed for men because its initial design was with a protective grid much like an army watch. This line of watches is very popular to women. What makes Pasha Watches highly in demand is the fact that they look sporty and very functional without compromising elegance and style.

The Roadster is a very durable model with its interchangeable straps for different “personalities”. You can opt for a leather strap or a metal strap. Dress casual and easy with a metal strap while go for a formal and elegant look with a leather strap. Its latest is a Roadster chronograph.

The Santos 100 is in celebration of 100 years since the conception and creation of the first men’s wristwatch. The new Santos 100 is massive and powerful with a big 47 mm dial. This is an extra large time piece with complications – automatic movement and a chronograph. The Santos 100 is a celebration of the watch’s 100th year of existences (1847 to 2004).

In 1964 the remaining descendants of Louis-Francois, decided to sell Maison Cartier. However the children of the Cartier heirs decided to sell. However this move did not stop Cartier from continuously creating superb timeless pieces.

New products are the flying tourbillion watches are called: Tank Ameicaine and Flying Tourbillon. This line is in 18i karat pink gold with a crown shaped like an octagon. The strap is genuine alligator skin with an adjustable double-fold clasp. The Calibre 9453 MC with Geneva Seal, flying tourbillon was used for this line of watch.

Another new product is a modification of the Baignoire Watch. Clean lines, simple and elegant, this watch is an epitome of what is feminine. The perfect oval-face dial is timeless. This watch comes in 18 karat pink gold and blush-beige canvas strap (brushed) and an ardillon buckle in 18 karat gold too. The mechanical movement is Calibre 430 MC.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 20th, 2010 at 11:50 am and is filed under Cartier, Watch Info and tagged with cartier, cartier roadster, pasha, pasha 42mm, roadster, santos, santos 100. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.