One day in 1976, Jean-Jacques Cartier, the head of Cartier in London, received a sudden challenge: a customer’s Baignoire watch was severely damaged in a car accident in central London, and they brought it to the Cartier London store for repair. What Jean-Jacques Cartier saw in front of him was a completely twisted and unrecognizable watch case, which later became the iconic special piece Cartier Crash designed by him. Just now, the well-known online auction platform Loupe This set a new world record for Cartier Crash with a transaction price of $1.5 million, and this piece is also a special piece from the same series.
According to data from the Loupe This platform, the Cartier Crash auctioned this time is a perfect piece made of 18K yellow gold from 1967, with the words “Cartier London” engraved on the dial, meaning that this piece is the first product conceived by Jean-Jacques Cartier inspired by the car accident. Among the collection of the same series, it is definitely the rarest, and over the years it has been a masterpiece that collectors have been extremely eager for. Interestingly, Louie This stated that this watch has always been mistakenly believed to be from 1969, but after many verifications, it was confirmed to be the first year of the debut and production of the Cartier Crash.
In this auction, this Cartier London Crash is estimated to be worth around $500,000 to $800,000 USD, without the original box. After a total of 81 bids, this piece was sold for an astonishing $1,503,888 USD (approximately over HKD 11,800,000), setting a new world record and breaking the record of 806,500 Swiss Francs for a first-generation Cartier London Crash gold watch auctioned at Sotheby’s at the end of last year.
Although the Cartier Crash has always been one of the brand’s legendary timepieces, what has puzzled people since its debut is that the watch has never been officially released by Cartier. Therefore, the story of its origin, debut, and appearance in the market or auction houses has always been the most intriguing part for the public.
On the other hand, the design inspiration story of the watch is also highly regarded. In addition to the above, Jean-Jacques Cartier was inspired by a sudden “repair” accident to come up with this concept, and designed it together with brand craftsman Rupert Emmerson; another theory is that the Cartier Crash was actually inspired by the Spanish artistic genius Salvador Dali, in a 1931 painting “The Persistence of Memory” with melting clocks and distorted watch faces. However, experts and collectors tend to not believe this theory, instead, most people believe it is related to a “car accident”. However, many years later, Jean-Jacques Cartier’s granddaughter Francesca Cartier Brickell came forward to clarify that neither of the above theories are true, and the most accurate source is that the Cartier Crash reflects the brand’s bold and innovative spirit, inspired by the surrealism movement in the 1960s to come up with this iconic design.
As for which collector the watch will ultimately end up with? Of course, it is currently unknown. However, one thing is certain, besides celebrities like Stewart Granger, Kanye West, Jay-Z, there are even more rare and precious watch collections on the market.
資料及圖片來源：Loupe This、Web Photo
