"Fillings in Hens' Teeth" - vintage Cartier!

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Amor Vincit Omnia
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"Fillings in Hens' Teeth" - vintage Cartier!

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Now, if you follow the vintage market at all you will know that there is plenty to be had out there from the 50s and 60s. From the dog rough to the respectable to the exotic and frankly overpriced. Rolex, Omega, JLC, Longines &c abound, PP and VC are easy enough to find, and there are dozens of great brands that didn't survive the quartz crisis and can be picked up fairly cheaply as a result of not having a household name on the dial.

However, there is rather a noticeable absentee, at least as far as the Internet is concerned – and that is Cartier. Do a search for vintage Cartier and you will find nothing before about 1990 – or very rarely. I had seen the name of a shop in Burlington Arcade that had a lot of pre-owned Cartier watches, so I popped in there yesterday. Sure enough, they had quite a good stock but again there was nothing before about 1990. Most of the stuff was more recent than that.

"Very rare indeed," said the man.

"Like hens' teeth?"

"More like fillings in hens' teeth, sir."

It seems that, compared with most of the other big players, Cartier's production numbers were very low indeed until the last couple of decades of the century. For decades, they only sold out of their three stores – Paris, London and New York. Their watches appeared frequently on the wrists of movie stars, royalty and other celebrities, but were pretty much inaccessible to the vast majority even of middle-class people. The democratisation (some on here would probably say "cheapening") of the brand didn't really get going until the 1980s. So most of us would be far more likely to inherit Grandfather's Omega or Rolex than his Cartier.

And there was I thinking I might one day like to add a 50s or 60s Tank to my collection as easily and "cheaply" :wink: as I might find a JLC or Rolex. Think again, it seems.
Steve
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akirk
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Re: "Fillings in Hens' Teeth" - vintage Cartier!

Post by akirk »

I suspect that you need to register with Christies / Sothebys / invaluable.com / etc. and one will pop up...

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Re: "Fillings in Hens' Teeth" - vintage Cartier!

Post by Dancematt »

Didn't know that about the 3 shops. I'd say 80's was where they started branching out to mainstream dealers.

Edith: oops you wrote that already!
Plenty of 80s examples on fellows for instance. Just sign up to thesaleroom.com for older pieces. More chance there than anywhere else.

To add, it appears Ralph Lauren has bought them all already if you see his Hodinkee you tube interview.
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Amor Vincit Omnia
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Re: "Fillings in Hens' Teeth" - vintage Cartier!

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Thanks for the replies, chaps. There is no harm in registering an interest, though I doubt whether I would like the prices.
Steve
Linguist; retired teacher; pilgrim; apprentice travel writer

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time


Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. (Max Ehrmann)
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