Cartier Crash 18k Yellow Gold

Cartier Crash first appeared in the French Maison’s catalog in 1967.  Rumors of the uniquely shaped watch’s origins have swirled for decades ranging from Salvador Dali’s surrealist painting The Persistence of Memory to more radically a Baignoire Allongée that melted in a car crash creating the unique form.  However according to Cartier descendant Francesca Cartier Brickell who researched her family’s prestigious firm extensively the story is much more tame although still crash-inspired as its name would suggest.

As the story goes Jean-Jacques set out to develop a watch “unlike any other ” working closely with designer Rupert Emmerson to transform the traditional oval-shaped case into something that might look like it was in a car accident.  Each end of the case has a pinched look so it’s understandable why some might connect the Cartier Crash and Dali’s mind-bending aesthetic. The collection’s history is much more involved than that but it ultimately produced a spectacular collection of boundary-breaking watches some with skeleton dials and even diamond-encrusted bezels like our example. Although Cartier still makes the watch today it’s still incredibly exclusive and rare.  It isn’t likely you’ll spot watches like this one out in the wild. This example from the 1970s is an 18k yellow gold model with an ivory Roman numeral dial leather strap and sapphire crystal. It’s a spectacular display of Cartier’s unique design language that will undoubtedly become the crowning jewel of your watch box.