Cartier Just Dropped an All-Star Team of Its Rarest Watch Models

There are a few things I look forward to every year at Watches and Wonders: the bizarre murals at the hotel where all the media members stay, for instance, or the two-bite ham and cheese sandwiches at the fairgrounds. But nothing gets me more excited than the curtain-raising on Cartier’s Privé collection, which exhumes iconic vintage models in the maison’s catalog and updates them for modern times. This year, as the Privé program turns a decade old, Cartier celebrated by releasing an all-star team of the best shape-happy watches released under the banner.

There are six new watches divided into two groups of three. Part of me wishes Cartier had continued to dig up more designs from its illustrious history—how about the Driver, a Basculante, the Coussin, or Cristollar?—but it’s hard to be too upset about six new vintage-inspired watches.

Cartier Crash Squelette

Just when you thought the Crash couldn’t get any zanier (or more hyped), Cartier is proving it can still reinvent one of the industry’s most distinctive watches. I hesitate to even call this a skeleton-dial watch, though that’s technically what it is. Unlike traditional openworked watches, however, Cartier isn’t using the technique to flex a gaudy movement inside. On the contrary, this Crash introduces an entirely new shaped movement, arranged just so in order for Cartier to hide much of it behind the apparatus holding the engine together.

Sprouting from the edges of the case and fused with the movement are bridges shaped like Roman numerals standing in for where they would be placed on a conventional dial. How sweet is that?! It’s a really inventive way to go with a skeleton dial, especially as the watch leaves so much blank space thanks to its precisely shaped movement. It’s a watch that really feels like an art piece.

Cartier Tank Cintrée

Cartier makes a lot of variations on the Tank, but none are more elegant than the Cintrée. The model’s elongated case is subtly curved to fit perfectly on the wrist. This new version is classic Cartier: yellow gold case, blue steel hands, and Roman numerals. Just the way Steve McQueen would have worn it in The Thomas Crown Affair.