A solid eighteen carat yellow gold Cartier Vendome model with mechanical movement. This rare, larger size was the men's version when it was launched in the 1980's, coming in at thirty three millimeters, as opposed to the smaller twenty four millimeters. This model was part of a massive Cartier push to further develop the watch line after the great success of re-launching the Santos in 1979. The company, under the leadership of Robert Hocq, began to grow in new, broader directions, which also saw the launch of the "le must" range, which proved a phenomenal success for the brand, and marked the company's attempt to not only compete with what was coming in from Japan, but also stay relevant to an evolving and changing younger market. To say this was a success was an understatement with sales reaching over $1 billion for the group in 1988.
This model is often confused with the slightly more squat shaped, but similar looking "Ellipse", this shape was known as the "Vendome". This is confusion as there is another "Vendome" in the line which has a very recognisable lug design, launched in 1933. This launch came with a variety of other similar looking designs such as; Gondole, Tank Square and Square.
The watch retains all the details that Cartier lovers flock to the brand for; the Roman numeral dial with a chemin de fer minute track, sword blued steel hands and a blue sapphire set winding crown. This being a more desirable earlier version features the "Paris" stamp at base of the six o'clock position.
The watch is powered by a manually wound, ETA 2512 caliber mechanical movement. This seventeen jewel movement features incabloc shock protection and is a fairly rudimentary, but reliable, movement that powered the vast number of Cartier watches from the mid 1970’s through to the early 1980’s.
The original, fully signed, solid eighteen carat yellow gold Cartier deployant buckle is also present with the watch. The case back and interior is fully signed, including the. unique Cartier reference stamp to the case back. The watch is presented in superb original condition. It has never been polished and remains in excellent condition throughout with no signs of obvious wear. Often, unfortunately, these dial can become crazed or cracked. This is not the case here. The glossy white dial is in superb condition. Overall, a superb example of a fairly unusual, larger sized, watch case. This is a very unusual and recognizable case shape, but one that still remains chic and refined.
