I’ve talked about earlier than that I am probably the world’s worst prognosticator. And but, right here I’m once more – even volunteering this time – to sort out the query of what Cartier has in retailer for us in 2024.
Cartier could be essentially the most difficult model to foretell as a result of their horological strengths aren’t restricted solely to conventional watchmaking. As a grand jewellery Maison, I’ve seen a number of the most unimaginable gem-setting on the whole lot from Jean Cocteau’s sword for his induction into the Académie Française to “Tutti Fruitti” wristwatches that harken again to the times of cocktail watches (and they need to deliver these again, by the best way). This complicates issues for me, a mean joe whose feeble gem-less mind cannot absolutely comprehend the creativity of Cartier.
I might have by no means imagined a Baignoire Allongée with a studded case. A Tiger-striped gem-set Crash? It was too unimaginable for me to have imagined. A comfortable cushion-shaped watch that squishes while you press on it? What are we even speaking about anymore? Even the Baignoire bangle from final yr was, for me, out of left subject.
Final yr, I used to be all in regards to the Privé assortment Tank Normale. It is the quintessential Normale, and whereas it knocked my socks off, I type of knew it was coming, so I stored my mouth shut till the reveal. With no such inside data and barely sufficient creativity in my pinky finger to foretell something, I’ll use all that juice – and my intestine emotions – to make one prediction.
That is the yr of the Cartier Maxi Oval.
Since 2015, the Privé assortment has been an ideal platform to tease out iconic fashions just like the Cloche, Tonneau, Cintrée, and Crash. The Pebble joined the Cartier lineup in 2022 as one of many few shapes Cartier hadn’t revisited since its unique launch, breaking a 50-year streak. What hasn’t come again is the Maxi Oval.
A short hedge right here to say that that is the twenty fifth Anniversary of the (ahem – placing on my greatest French accent) Assortment Privée Cartier Paris Tortue Monopoussoir, one of the iconic and beloved Cartier watches of the final quarter century. That watch itself performed off the truth that the Tortue has been a platform for attention-grabbing classic single-button chronographs previously and no less than two examples of classic minute repeaters from the Nineteen Twenties. Taking a look at how Cartier has handled their latest releases – liking to iterate with no less than skeletonizations and generally problems – it is doable that what we’re due is a resurgence of the Tortue. That is in all probability the logical guess. However I am betting on – or possibly fairly hoping for – a Maxi Oval. And whereas it is technically a Baignoire Allongée, what we have not seen since their run that began through the Swingin’ Sixties is a real Maxi Oval.
The Maxi Oval has had the closest factor to a “second” it is ever seen. Phillips bought a New York Maxi Oval final yr for $120,650, and Christie’s acquired almost the identical worth for one from London. Monaco Legend Group auctioned a London Maxi Oval (the model to have) within the spring of 2023 with an all-in worth of €273,000, touchdown in a outstanding Cartier assortment. A yr and a half prior, MLG bought a grey dial, white gold London Maxi Oval for €364,000 – one thing that now looks like a steal for a novel contact of Jean-Jacques Cartier’s London shaped-watch genius.
Let’s get the apocryphal elephant within the room out of the best way: a melted Maxi Oval was not the origin of the Crash. That does not make any distinction to me. What our good ol’ buddy JJ Cartier – as I’ve simply determined to name him – did greatest was formed watches. My apologies to my associates who personal them, however watches just like the Ceinture do little or no within the shadow of the Maxi Oval. Equally, the Crash is one other tier above. What the Cintrée gives, particularly in distinction to the aforementioned, is an uninterrupted historical past since 1921. However that does not make the Maxi Oval a nasty watch.
A brand new Maxi Oval, respecting the 30mm by 57mm sizing of an unique 60s or 70s mannequin, would have an unimaginable wrist presence. I not too long ago acquired to see a London Maxi Oval from 1968 close to a more recent Baignoire Allongée and realized that the latter would by no means work for me. It is simply too skinny and quick. The Maxi Oval is a cuff, similar to the Cintrée however with Swinging Sixties flare.
What is going to Cartier do with a brand new Maxi Oval? I’ve discovered to not anticipate precisely what I need. I might like to see one thing that’s principally a carbon copy of the unique, however Cartier all the time feels a have to tweak their designs to various levels of modernization. The Privé Normale in platinum had a silver dial and silver arms (rendering it almost illegible, thoughts you), and it actually felt extra trendy. The Cartier Crash and Cintrée got here again a number of occasions in various types, however the 2014 Crash Skeleton and 2017 Cintrée Skeleton confirmed that Cartier is not afraid to experiment with historic designs whereas porting a watch into the trendy period.
If I am appropriate, I might anticipate to see a Maxi Oval in yellow gold and platinum, with probably vertical graining to the dial (like final yr’s Americaine) or guilloché like has been seen on previous Baignoire Allongée examples. It is doable that they’d play with Arabic numerals on the dial like we have seen on the Cintrée as nicely. Throw in just a few gem-set fashions and possibly a skeleton, and you have basically acquired what we noticed final yr with the Normale. You see, I advised you my creativity would run out.
What would I prefer to see? That grey dial at Monaco Legend can be a very good begin. No matter occurs, with how sizzling Cartier stays, I doubt I will be getting a name for a Maxi Oval. However let or not it’s recognized that I known as shotgun far earlier than anybody else.