Cartier is perhaps most associated with the Tank wristwatch, but in the 1950s and 1960s, Cartier developed a small number of beautiful round-format watches including the present rare automatic watch in 18k yellow gold from circa 1965. There are a few striking and important things about it. First, this watch has an automatic movement, which is a rarity for vintage Cartier watches. This watch features a beautiful ETA movement featuring a beautiful rotor engraved "Cartier, Inc." and that has two adjustments, indicating the time that Cartier spent regulating the movement for accuracy. Second, the watch features an extremely unusual dial featuring tritium luminous dots and tritium-filled hands. The lume and dial remain totally original and untouched, which is another rarity for watches from the era. Third, the 35mm diameter excluding crown and case featuring a screw-down back makes this a watch very suitable to modern tastes. It was a significant size for a dress watch at that time. The case remains sharp and absolutely unpolished. The combination of features suggest that it was designed for an American sporting gentleman. It was the closest thing Cartier made to a sports watch at that time and was designed to be rugged and functional enough for a gentleman to take it from the office to the outdoors. Extensive research has not revealed a similar watch, so its rarity is unquestioned.
