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Lot Essay
US$30,000-50,000
EUR20,000-33,000
Accompanied by Cartier presentation box, certificate and manual.
The "Crash" was first introduced in the late 1960s, available only in yellow gold and sold exclusively at Cartier of London. At the time, Cartier Paris, Cartier London and Cartier New York were operated separately as they were in the hands of different owners. The model was attributed to be an inspiration from Salvador Dali, the famous surrealistic painter who reached his pinnacle in the 1930's and 1940's. This is, however, a mythical misinterpretation of the actual story.
The real story took stage in "Swinging London", home to the English Invasion Music Scene: one starry night in the mid 1960s, a vice president at Cartier of London was on his way home from the office and as bad luck would have it, was involved in a fatal car accident. A blistering fire ensued and he was caught up in the blaze. The watch on his wrist was a Cartier "Bagnoire Alongee", which had melted and mangled, took form of the surrealistic "limp" watch in Salvador Dali's "The persistence of Memory". A fortuituous conincidence and require some imagination, one might add. While deeply saddened by the mishap of their fallen colleague, the designers at Cartier drew inspiration from the deformed "Alongee" and in remembranace released the "Crash".
Modern variations were reintroduced in the early 1990s as limited editions and are no longer in production.
The model is illustrated in Le Temps de Cartier by J. Barracca, G. Negretti, F. Nencini, p. 295.
EUR20,000-33,000
Accompanied by Cartier presentation box, certificate and manual.
The "Crash" was first introduced in the late 1960s, available only in yellow gold and sold exclusively at Cartier of London. At the time, Cartier Paris, Cartier London and Cartier New York were operated separately as they were in the hands of different owners. The model was attributed to be an inspiration from Salvador Dali, the famous surrealistic painter who reached his pinnacle in the 1930's and 1940's. This is, however, a mythical misinterpretation of the actual story.
The real story took stage in "Swinging London", home to the English Invasion Music Scene: one starry night in the mid 1960s, a vice president at Cartier of London was on his way home from the office and as bad luck would have it, was involved in a fatal car accident. A blistering fire ensued and he was caught up in the blaze. The watch on his wrist was a Cartier "Bagnoire Alongee", which had melted and mangled, took form of the surrealistic "limp" watch in Salvador Dali's "The persistence of Memory". A fortuituous conincidence and require some imagination, one might add. While deeply saddened by the mishap of their fallen colleague, the designers at Cartier drew inspiration from the deformed "Alongee" and in remembranace released the "Crash".
Modern variations were reintroduced in the early 1990s as limited editions and are no longer in production.
The model is illustrated in Le Temps de Cartier by J. Barracca, G. Negretti, F. Nencini, p. 295.