The name Cartier needs no introduction. As one of the most influential and celebrated jewelry and watch brands of the last 100 years, it has always stood as a mark of luxury and desirability. Without taking away from its historical significance, I would say that when it comes to watches, Cartier has always been predominantly known as a ‘design’ brand rather than a pure watchmaking one, with stunningly iconic models such as the Tank, the Crash, and the Santos all seen as important due to how it looks. In fact, to this day, it is the beautiful and unconventional designs that attract collectors and a unique position in the watch brand hierarchy that no other possesses.
As I have mentioned many times, the ’90s was an unconventional and murky time for watch brands, having just come out of the quartz crisis that decimated most of the industry. Brands were either experimenting like crazy or strictly conservative, wary of the fact they just survived the equivalent of a nuclear bomb. The industry was slowly coming back, with consumers beginning to take an interest in mechanical watches, and with this in mind, Cartier decided that it was time to improve its image as a true watchmaking brand.
The result was the Collection Privé Cartier Paris division, referred to simply as the CPCP. The intention of the CPCP was to be the premier mechanical watchmaking division of Cartier and looking back on it today, it was one of the best decisions they ever made. The philosophy was simple, the CPCP took iconic models that were already loved by many, and reproduced them with high-grade movements, working with bonafide watch manufactures such as Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Frédéric Piguet, Girard-Perregaux and more.
The easiest way to differentiate a CPCP watch was by the dial, with all but one model (Tank Cintrée) featuring a ‘Cartier Paris’ inscription- an ode to its heritage. The dials were always crafted from solid gold and often featured a strong hand-turned guilloche pattern with Cartier’s signature ‘rosette’ in the middle of the dial beneath the handset.
The Rotonde, Cartier’s classic round-shaped watch, was used extensively throughout the Collection Prive program with different complications, but none were as unconventional and special as what you see here today- the Jour Et Nuit.
The easiest way to describe in words how the watch works is to separate the top and bottom half of the dial, with the bottom displaying the minutes, and the top displaying the hours. A single, retrograde hand at the bottom displays the minutes, bouncing from the left of the dial back to the right after every 60 minutes, while the top of the dial displays the hours via a rotating disc. In the daytime, a sun motif rotates, with the beam that touches the outer track displaying the hours, while in the nighttime, a moon appears on the wheel, effectively making this a 24-hour indicator and hence the name ‘Jour Et Nuit’, or ‘Day and Night’ in English.
Constructed of 18k white gold, this 42mm beauty features an entirely polished case and a stunning engraved guilloche rose motif at the center of its silver dial. As per Cartier’s requirements, this guilloche engraving was reserved for the CPCP. Furthermore, this watch features a sapphire crystal case back to display its wonderfully finished Cal. 9903 MC movement. The Cartier Rotonde Jour et Nuit is a wonderful display of Cartier’s skill as innovative designers not only in form but also in how we tell time.
The CPCP collection ran for 10 years between 1998 and 2008 and I can confidently say it is one of the most significant periods in Cartier’s history. It’s beautiful to see that Cartier was doing ‘reissues’ before it was even a thing and doing it the right way- respecting the past while producing something that is modern. Not only this but the CPCP models were produced in truly limited numbers, with many having a designated run of 50 to 100 pieces. For those in the Collection Privé that weren’t strictly ‘limited’, it is estimated that only 250-300 pieces were made for each reference making any CPCP watch out there truly special.
Collectors are finally taking notice of this, and Cartier in general as a brand worth collecting. With more knowledge available now, the demand for Cartier has been huge and I only see it getting larger, especially for important references such as those from the CPCP line.