184,000 HKD
Cartier, Paris, Cabriolet Reversible, 1940's. Very fine and rare cabriolet, rectangular, 18K yellow gold gentleman's wristwatch. three body, massive, polished, satine, with "cabriolet" system. "guilloche" silver with painted radial Roman numerals and indexes. "Spade " blued steel hands. Notes A similar watch is published in Cartier; The Tank Watch by Franco CocoGNt,1998 Edition, pp. 99-99 and 214-216. Cartier Cabriolet wristwatch At the beginning of the 20th century, wristwatches started to become fashionable namely because they were so much more practical. A watch worn on the wrist, however, was exposed to shocks and accidents of all kinds. Hence, the protection of the watch glass was a major concern for watchmakers, until the invention of new, stronger types of glass, made of strengthened mineral and synthetic sapphir e. Sliding shutters or grills covering the watch glass were effective but the advantage of wristwatches was that they could be pivoted or tipped so that the glass would be placed against the wrist and be even more protected. From 1910 onwards several examples were patented and on July 6, 1926, Cartier was granted a patent for a "wristwatch in which the glass is turned towards the wrist. A point or one ofthe sides o/the case is mounted on the strap in such a way as to allow the watch to pivot around this side...". In the same spirit, a few years later, LeCoultre together with Cesar de Trey and Jaeger, Paris, created the celebrated Reverso (inven Read more…
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
1999-06-07
