Cartier Vendôme Must white lacquer dial Ref. 590004, 1990s

Identity

Cartier Vendôme Must, Ref. 590004, 1990s. Quartz movement. Round vermeil case, 24 mm, crown set with a sapphire cabochon. White lacquered dial, Roman numerals at 12 and 6 o'clock, vermeil blocks arranged in a half-circle, railway minute track, blued hands. Mineral crystal. Leather strap, gold-plated Cartier folding clasp.

Horological context

Cartier — "the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers", in the phrase attributed to King Edward VII — made the watch a jewel from the early twentieth century. In 1977, Alain-Dominique Perrin extended Les Must de Cartier, a line already born with lighters, pens and leather goods, to watches, in the midst of the oil crisis, in order to revive sales and open luxury design, at a more accessible price, to a new generation. Must watches take up the Cartier codes — Roman numerals, railway minute track, blued sword hands, crown set with a sapphire cabochon — in vermeil cases, the true stroke of genius of the concept: solid 925 silver coated with gold gives an impeccable finish at a considerably lower cost. The collection embraced the quartz revolution, without giving up manual winding. Three designs structure it: the Tank, faithful to the Tank Louis Cartier; the Vendôme, round, named after the square next to the rue de la Paix; the Colisée, round, with T-shaped lugs. Alongside the classic dials came monochromes in burgundy, navy blue or British racing green, and the Trinity dial, with the three golds of the ring Louis Cartier designed in 1924. Set aside during the 2000s, the collection was reborn in 2021 with the Tank Must, in steel.

Character

The dial keeps only two numerals, XII and VI; on either side, the vermeil blocks line up in an arc and stand in for the missing indexes, with the railway minute track running at their foot. Against the white lacquer, this metal laid directly on the dial echoes that of the case. Each attachment, a single stem opening into a bar, leaves the round case as if suspended between the two halves of the strap.

Serviced watch. Very good condition. Delivered with the original Must de Cartier box and the Contre-Temps 24-month warranty certificate.