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Lot Essay
Please note the strap is shown for display purposes only and is not for sale. Upon sale, the watch will be supplied to the buyer on a strap that is not made of protected wildlife material.
Fresh to market and from the family of the original owner, Christie's is delighted to offer this superb and incredibly rare 1970 London-made Baignoire Allongée. The watch was purchased during a holiday to England and was sported by the mother, and has remained in the original family ever since.
The London Baignoire Allongée
For Cartier collectors, timepieces produced in Cartier’s London workshops are beyond desirable. Cartier’s motto ‘Never Copy, Only Create’ has a particular resonance when considering the extraordinarily creative wristwatches that came out of Cartier’s London workshops in the 1960s and 70s. Designed to provide a perfect molding and fit on the wrist, the Baignoire Allongée or 'elongated Baignoire' was a remarkable creation from the workshop. Handmade, it was produced in extremely small numbers and has always been almost impossible to obtain, its quasi-mythical status as an instantly recognizable yet highly exclusive Cartier design has assured its eternal allure. Underlining the present watch’s rarity, according to research, in the last 25 years only five other examples of these original 1960s/70s London-made Baignoire Allongée wristwatches have appeared at international auction.
Consigned by the family of the original owner, Christie's is honored to be able to offer this wonderful example of what is regarded as one of the most attractive and sought after of all Cartier wristwatches. The present watch, with its cursive script signature ‘Cartier London’ on the stunning white painted dial with ‘explosion’ numerals, oversized gold case with full London hallmarks for 1970 and matching gold buckle, is a more than sublime specimen that could hardly be imagined.
1960s/70s London was an exciting place to be and Jean-Jacques Cartier, who had instigated the making of Cartier watches in London, wanted to create wristwatches that were truly a response to the spirit of the age. The appearance of the watches that came out of the London workshops, including the ‘Crash’ and the present ‘Baignoire Allongée’ were not only avant-garde but positively and deliberately shocking. Their truly head-turning looks were in complete contrast to the traditional conservative round or rectangular wristwatches of the day.
The Cartier Baignoire
Originally conceived for an important Russian client in 1912 but unnamed, the Cartier ‘Baignoire’ or ‘bathtub’ in French has remained a timeless and elegant icon for over a century. Although resembling a bathtub, the name actually refers to the shape of the exclusive sections of the grand Opera Houses that Cartier’s clientele frequented. The ‘Baignoire’ shaped watch that is familiar today was not serially produced until 1957 and only christened ‘Baignoire’ in 1973. The ‘Allongée’ was the ultimate expression of the Baignoire design, the London made examples are thought to have first appeared in 1964. The Baignoire Allongée was not simply an elongated and exaggerated variation of the standard Baignoire, but a transcendent and unusual piece of functional, wearable art.
Fresh to market and from the family of the original owner, Christie's is delighted to offer this superb and incredibly rare 1970 London-made Baignoire Allongée. The watch was purchased during a holiday to England and was sported by the mother, and has remained in the original family ever since.
The London Baignoire Allongée
For Cartier collectors, timepieces produced in Cartier’s London workshops are beyond desirable. Cartier’s motto ‘Never Copy, Only Create’ has a particular resonance when considering the extraordinarily creative wristwatches that came out of Cartier’s London workshops in the 1960s and 70s. Designed to provide a perfect molding and fit on the wrist, the Baignoire Allongée or 'elongated Baignoire' was a remarkable creation from the workshop. Handmade, it was produced in extremely small numbers and has always been almost impossible to obtain, its quasi-mythical status as an instantly recognizable yet highly exclusive Cartier design has assured its eternal allure. Underlining the present watch’s rarity, according to research, in the last 25 years only five other examples of these original 1960s/70s London-made Baignoire Allongée wristwatches have appeared at international auction.
Consigned by the family of the original owner, Christie's is honored to be able to offer this wonderful example of what is regarded as one of the most attractive and sought after of all Cartier wristwatches. The present watch, with its cursive script signature ‘Cartier London’ on the stunning white painted dial with ‘explosion’ numerals, oversized gold case with full London hallmarks for 1970 and matching gold buckle, is a more than sublime specimen that could hardly be imagined.
1960s/70s London was an exciting place to be and Jean-Jacques Cartier, who had instigated the making of Cartier watches in London, wanted to create wristwatches that were truly a response to the spirit of the age. The appearance of the watches that came out of the London workshops, including the ‘Crash’ and the present ‘Baignoire Allongée’ were not only avant-garde but positively and deliberately shocking. Their truly head-turning looks were in complete contrast to the traditional conservative round or rectangular wristwatches of the day.
The Cartier Baignoire
Originally conceived for an important Russian client in 1912 but unnamed, the Cartier ‘Baignoire’ or ‘bathtub’ in French has remained a timeless and elegant icon for over a century. Although resembling a bathtub, the name actually refers to the shape of the exclusive sections of the grand Opera Houses that Cartier’s clientele frequented. The ‘Baignoire’ shaped watch that is familiar today was not serially produced until 1957 and only christened ‘Baignoire’ in 1973. The ‘Allongée’ was the ultimate expression of the Baignoire design, the London made examples are thought to have first appeared in 1964. The Baignoire Allongée was not simply an elongated and exaggerated variation of the standard Baignoire, but a transcendent and unusual piece of functional, wearable art.