Cartier watches have an interesting history. The company itself is 250 years old and it made its name creating fine jewellery for the wealthy, royal and famous of Europe. Around the beginning of the 20th century, it started making watches, but these never really reached the quality of its jewellery. A few years ago, Johan Rupert of the Rembrandt conglomerate (which owns a number of fine watch companies, wanted to make cigarettes called Cartier. 

The company refused, so he bought them! He completely revitalised the watches manufactured by Cartier, slashing the number of outlets, improving design and marketing and refining the Cartier watch into a highly valuable collectable item.

Peter explains that Cartier is a more fashionable product than Patek Philippe or Rolex. “A Rolex will maintain value no matter how old the model,” he explains, “whereas Cartier styles change and the newer styles tend to displace the older. “

However, behind the refinements in style, most of the watches retain the basic ‘handwriting’ reminiscent of the turn of the century – bold black Roman numerals that slope towards the centre of the dial, a sapphire in the winder, the off-white dial. This gives strong brand recognition, which has helped to make a Cartier extremely valuable, even given changes in fashion. The famous Tank watch, for example, started in about 1910 and the identical watch is still being made today. 

“Cartier watches are a large part of my sales,” says Peter. “The company has traded well on its fame as a maker of fine jewellery for the best clients. The watches are sexy and fashionable and anyone who owns one joins a select club; that is a very seductive prospect.”