Favourite Of Collectors Cartier Crash

FAVOURITE OF COLLECTORS: CARTIER CRASH

AS CRASH HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST COLLECTABLE WATCHES ON THE PLANET TODAY, WE EXPLORE ITS HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND EXPLORE ITS NUMEROUS ITERATIONS.

Founded by Louis-François Cartier in Paris in 1847, the Maison expanded to London in 1902. Alfred, son of Louis-Francois Cartier, had hatched a plan for global domination with his three sons – Louis, Pierre, and Jacques. Prioritizing the ease of modern travel, their foresight aimed to position Cartier as the jeweller of choice for royalty and the world's elite, regardless of their geographical location. While Louis ran the headquarters in Paris, Pierre became head of the subsidiary in New York, and Jacques took charge of affairs in the British capital, initially accompanying his older brother Pierre in London.

Post-war London of the 1950s was characterized by restriction, with echoes of wartime rationing and conservative social norms. But by the 1960s, a radical cultural change began to shake everything. This was the Swinging Sixties, when a dynamic youth culture, economic prosperity and a hunger for personal freedom combined to create an unforgettable wave of change in the heart of London. At that time, Jacques Cartier's son, Jean-Jacques, had completed his apprenticeship with Cartier's best designer, Charles Jacqueau, in the Paris branch. Jean-Jacques took charge of the London operations and focused on expanding the watch offering. Among the three branches, Cartier London has great mystique as it has taken on a life of its own, reflecting the complex tapestry of the city's cultural, social, and artistic transformations. Baignoire Allongèe, Pebble and Asymétrique are out of the London boutique. But the most striking creation was 1967's Crash.

THE BIRTH OF CRASH

Until recently, the genesis of Crash was shrouded in mystery. The lack of official records has given rise to many fascinating stories. While some believe its design was inspired by the melting clocks in Salvador Dali's surrealist masterpiece 'The Persistence of Memory', a more common version is that it was believed to have emerged from a Cartier Maxi Oval (Baignoire Allongée) that had undergone dramatic deterioration following a car accident.

The truth was more sober but still fascinating. According to Francesca Cartier Brickell, granddaughter of Jean-Jacques Cartier and author of The Cartiers: (The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire): The Maxi Oval did indeed serve as a jumping off point. But Jean-Jacques and designer Rupert Emmerson pushed the boundaries of Cartier's visual identity in ways that were completely outside of anything Cartier had done before, hoping to capture the spirit of the 'psychedelic' era.

Cartier Brickell wrote: “The truth is that the 1960s were a time of discord in London. Many loyal customers, including actor Stewart Granger, were demanding a watch “like no other.” Working closely with designer Rupert Emmerson on watches and cases, Jean-Jacques discussed with him how they could adjust the popular Maxi Oval design to look like it had been in an accident by “tucking the ends in at one point and putting a crease in the middle.”

Interestingly, Emmerson presented several versions of the proposed concept to Jean-Jacques at their next meeting. He even proposed a design featuring a cracked-looking dial to emphasize the crash theme, but this suggestion was not appreciated by Jean-Jacques. While Jean-Jacques was open to innovation, he believed that the final product should remain an aesthetically pleasing object. Therefore, Emmerson was advised to tone down some aspects of the design and abandoned the cracked dial idea.

After finalizing the design, they sought advice from Jaeger-LeCoultre to determine the most suitable movement. The case was entrusted to craftsmen at the Wright & Davies workshop in East London, where the gold sheets were hand-formed into the asymmetrical case. It was then hand-finished by jewellers. Cartier Brickell states that the construction of a standard watch case usually requires thirty-five hours of labour, but this unique work differs significantly from typical rectangular, square, and oval models with its unusual curves and requires a much longer production time. The dial was hand painted by Rupert Emmerson.

Once completed, it was sent to Cartier London's chief watchmaker, Eric Denton. During the assembly process, they realized that designing the dial was a more difficult task than that. Since the gears that make up every mechanical watch are circular in nature and the hands are flat, it was a significant challenge to accurately position the distorted Roman numerals on the irregular dial for accurate time reading.

As a result, they had to take the watch apart and repaint the dial many times. Cartier Brickell wrote: “Despite all the tremendous work done, the Crash watches did not generate large profits for the company.” Due to Crash's artisanal nature, it was never produced in large numbers.

LONDON CRASH (1967 – 1990)

The first Crash watch stood out not only for its distinctive design but also for its bold dimensions. Crafted in yellow gold, the Crash was 43 mm long and 25 mm (23 excluding the crown) wide; this made it larger than most Cartier models, including most of the later Crash watches. The watch is a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch, which is a small tonneau-shaped movement. It was working with 841.

PARIS CRASH (SINCE 1991)

In 1991, Cartier Paris introduced the Crash in a limited edition of 400 pieces, in a smaller yellow gold case measuring 38.5 mm by 22.5 mm and with the word "Paris" instead of "London". Additionally, the Cartier secret signature was included in the numeral VII, where the word “Cartier” is written in delicate capital letters. In the following years, special orders were produced in various materials such as rose gold, white gold, and platinum.

CRASH DIAMONDS (1990'S TO PRESENT)

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Cartier introduced diamond-set versions of the same 38.5 mm by 22.5 mm sizes, starting in yellow gold. The watch featured three rows of pavé-set diamonds and a beaded crown set with brilliant-cut diamonds.

In 2013, Cartier introduced the first Crash on a rose and white gold bracelet, limited to 267 pieces each. There were also variations of diamond bracelets in both materials, each limited to just 67 pieces.

SKELETON (2015 – 2016)

Then, the first skeleton model in platinum was produced in 2015, and in 2016, the rose gold and diamond-plated platinum versions, each limited to 67 pieces, were produced. Most importantly, Crash Skeleton remains the only Crash to feature a truly shaped movement, with its bridges skeletonized to form Roman numerals.

In 2019, Cartier introduced platinum Skeleton models decorated with coloured stones, including yellow diamonds, pink sapphires and a third model with a combination of diamonds and emeralds.

Cartier introduced Crash Tigrée, the most extravagant and fascinating version of Crash, in 2022. Limited to 50 pieces, this version combines the art of jewel setting and enamel to create an abstract, Rorschach-like visual effect that evokes various interpretations, depending on the perspective, such as a tiger, a crocodile, a meandering river or a 'psychedelic' ode to the Swinging Sixties. takes it out.