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Francia · Fondazione 1847

Cartier

The Santos was drawn for an aviator who could not check a pocket watch while flying.

Testo editoriale in inglese.

Cartier is a Paris jeweller and watchmaker founded in 1847 and owned by Richemont. Its watch range is built on shaped cases designed by Louis Cartier before 1920, above all the Santos and the Tank, and is produced at its manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Steel and gold models sit mostly between about €4,000 and €10,000; jewellery and Fine Watchmaking pieces cost far more.

Storia

Louis-François Cartier took over the Paris workshop of his master Adolphe Picard in 1847 and won clients such as Princess Mathilde and Empress Eugénie. His son Alfred ran the firm from 1874, but Alfred's three sons made it international: Louis led Paris from the Rue de la Paix, where the house moved in 1899, Pierre opened New York in 1909 and Jacques took charge of London. Edward VII ordered 27 tiaras for his 1902 coronation and granted Cartier a royal warrant in 1904, and warrants from Spain, Portugal and Russia followed.

Louis Cartier also shaped the watches. For the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont he designed a flat wristwatch with a square bezel, dated by Cartier to 1904; after a 1907 agreement with movement maker Edmond Jaeger, the Santos went on general sale in 1911. The Tank, drawn in 1917 from the outline of First World War tanks, was offered from 1919, at first in a series of six. Cartier bought movements from Jaeger, LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and Movado, and in the 1920s began stamping its own reference numbers under a lug.

After Pierre Cartier's death in 1964 the family sold the three branches. Investors led by Robert Hocq and Joseph Kanoui bought Cartier Paris in 1972 and reacquired London in 1974 and New York in 1976. With Alain Dominique Perrin, Hocq created Les Must de Cartier, whose vermeil watches of 1976 brought the name to a much wider market. The three houses were united as Cartier Monde in 1979. Cartier is today part of Richemont, the Swiss luxury group Johann Rupert formed in 1988.

Perrin also founded the Comité International de la Haute Horlogerie, which held its first salon in Geneva in 1991. Cartier opened a watch manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 2000 and completed its reorganisation into a 40,000-square-metre site in 2007. The first in-house automatic calibre, the 1904 MC, arrived with the Calibre de Cartier in 2010, when mechanical watches reached half of production. The range still rests on designs from 1904 to 1919, alongside the Panthère of 1983, the Pasha of 1985 and the Ballon Bleu of 2007.

Fondatori

Louis-François Cartier
Founder · 1819–1904
Took over the Paris workshop of his master Adolphe Picard in 1847, founding the house that still carries his name. Patriarch of the Cartier family and grandfather of Louis, Pierre and Jacques.
Louis Cartier
Head of Cartier Paris, watch designer · 1875–1942
Grandson of the founder. Ran the Paris house from the Rue de la Paix and designed the Santos (1904) and the Tank (1917), the shapes on which Cartier's watchmaking still rests.

Tappe

  1. 1847

    Workshop founded in Paris

    Louis-François Cartier takes over the jewellery workshop of his master Adolphe Picard.

  2. 1899

    Move to the Rue de la Paix

    Louis Cartier moves the Paris house to the Rue de la Paix, still its address today.

  3. 1904

    Santos designed for an aviator

    Louis Cartier creates a flat, square-bezelled wristwatch for Alberto Santos-Dumont, who needed his hands free while flying.

  4. 1907

    Agreement with Edmond Jaeger

    Movement maker Edmond Jaeger agrees to supply Cartier, the basis for regular watch production.

  5. 1911

    Santos goes on sale

    The Santos becomes Cartier's first men's wristwatch offered to the public.

  6. 1917

    Tank designed; Fifth Avenue mansion

    Louis Cartier draws the Tank, and Pierre Cartier acquires 653 Fifth Avenue as the New York base.

  7. 1919

    Tank released

    The Tank is offered to clients, initially in a series of six pieces.

  8. 1972

    New owners reunite Cartier

    Robert Hocq and Joseph Kanoui buy Cartier Paris; London and New York follow in 1974 and 1976.

  9. 2000

    Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds

    Cartier opens its watch manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds, expanded to 40,000 square metres by 2007.

  10. 2010

    First in-house automatic calibre

    The 1904 MC movement debuts in the Calibre de Cartier collection.

Tre cose che i collezionisti sanno

A Fifth Avenue mansion for a pearl necklace

In 1917 Pierre Cartier acquired Morton Plant's mansion at 653 Fifth Avenue for US$100 in cash and a double-strand natural pearl necklace then valued at US$1 million. It remains Cartier's New York address.

The first Tanks came in a series of six

The Tank was offered in 1919 in only six pieces. The design later produced the Tank Cintrée, Tank Louis Cartier, Tank Américaine and Tank Française.

Clocks with floating hands

Cartier's mystery clocks hide their mechanism so the hands appear to float on a transparent dial. The first portico mystery clock, topped by a Billiken figure, was made in 1923.

Modelli simbolo

  • Designed for Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1904 and sold from 1911; a steel-and-gold version on a bracelet followed in 1978.

  • Tank1919

    Drawn by Louis Cartier in 1917; the family includes the Tank Louis Cartier, Américaine and Française (1996).

  • Square jewellery watch on a supple link bracelet.

  • Round case with a chained crown cover; a steel Pasha C followed in 1995.

  • Rounded case with a crown guard enclosing the blue cabochon crown.

Domande

Is Cartier owned by Richemont?
Yes. Cartier is a subsidiary of Richemont, the Swiss luxury group founded by Johann Rupert in 1988. The Cartier family sold the business in the 1960s and 1970s.
Where are Cartier watches made?
In Switzerland. Cartier's watch manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds opened in 2000 and employed around 900 people by the 2010s, while the house itself is headquartered in Paris.
Does Cartier make its own movements?
Partly. Cartier introduced its first in-house automatic calibre, the 1904 MC, in 2010 and has developed further manufacture calibres since. For most of its history it used movements from outside makers such as Jaeger-LeCoultre.
How do you pronounce Cartier?
KAR-tee-ay. In French it is [kaʁtje], with a silent final r.

Fonti

  1. Cartier (brand) – Wikipedia
  2. Louis Cartier – Wikipedia
  3. History of the Pilot Watch Part I – Cartier Santos 1904 (Monochrome Watches)
  4. Cartier's Tank: an icon from Américaine to Française (Revolution)
  5. Cartier Gets Serious: The Evolution of Cartier Men's Watches (WatchTime)
  6. History (Richemont)

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