SIGNED CARTIER, CLOCHE MODEL, CASE A112949, NO. 1⁄1, CIRCA 1996

Christie’s is delighted to offer the present unique Cartier ‘Paris’ Cloche timepiece, originally created for The Magical Art of Cartier thematic auction held by Antiquorum in Geneva in 1996. This legendary sale featured some of the most extraordinary Cartier timepieces from all three Maisons - Cartier Paris, London, and New York - and included iconic watches such as the mythical Octogonale Allongée, a Cartier-signed Patek Philippe 2499, split-second chronographs, and newly created unique Cartier wristwatches made to commemorate the auction, such as the present lot.

Two unique platinum Cloche models were made for this auction. The first featured bold Roman numerals and no minute track, similar to Cartier London watches. The second being the present lot, jovially utilized 'CARTIER PARIS' as the hour markers, since it perfectly equaled 12 characters. On the back, the watch is numbered '1⁄1' signifying its importance and unique nature.

The Cartier Cloche
First created in 1922 as an avant-garde alternative to the round and rectangular wristwatches of the time, the Cartier ‘Cloche’ got its name due to the bell-shape of the case, ‘Cloche’ being the French word for bell. Ingeniously, on standard production versions of this watch, the asymmetrical design of the case and the atypical dial layout whereby the XII numeral is adjacent to the crown, allows for the watch to be used as a miniature desk clock.