SPOILER ALERT!

Cartier

Cartier International AG is owned by Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, which markets a range of luxury products. In its comprehensive summary of watch groups, WatchTime noted Cartier as “the largest brand in Richemont’s portfolio and the number-two watch brand in the world after Rolex.” The Morgan Stanley Swiss Watch Industry Report estimated Cartier earnings at 3.1 billion Swiss francs (U.S. $3.4 billion) with 660,000 units sold in 2023.

The watchmaker itself traced its founding to 1847, by Louis-François Cartier (1819-1904), who started a business producing handmade jewelry in Paris after having apprenticed as a goldsmith. By 1859, the name had been established as maker of “the most coveted jewelry in all Paris,” and within fifty years of opening, “Cartier possessed one of the most influential clienteles in the world” — subsequently opening branches in London in 1902 and New York in 1909 [Nadelhoffer].

Second-generation Alfred Cartier (1841-1925) took the earliest steps with attempts to sell wristwatches designed for women in 1888. One of his three sons, Louis Cartier (1875-1942) had begun production of wristwatches for men in 1911.

Ian Fleming first referenced the Cartier brand in his third book, Moonraker, through the eyes of James Bond, who inspected the attire of Sir Hugo Drax and found “clothes which were expensive and in excellent taste …,” including “modest cuff-links, which looked like Cartier ….” Some years later, it has been said that he gifted a wristwatch to his mistress Blanche Blackwell as a token of appreciation for her having given him the idea for his “Quantum of Solace” short story.

In 1987, Cartier became a James Bond movie watch when it appeared as the second of two timepieces worn by Agent 007 in The Living Daylights.

Select Horology

After having “surpassed his master in ability” through apprenticeship, Louis-François Cartier, at the age of 28, took over the studio of premier artisan Adolf Picard upon the death of his master in 1847 [Nadelhoffer]. According to authors Gisbert Brunner and Gerald Viola, Mr Cartier grew in prominence through his work as supplier exquisite pieces to French royalty in the decades that followed. He “came into contact with watches for the first time when he brought up historic pocket watches” for clients in 1859.

A quarter-century later, son Alfred Cartier increased the variety of watch offerings and even commissioned pieces to be made. Beginning in 1893, Vacheron & Constantin of Geneva (founded 1755) “supplied whatever Cartier ordered for his customers” — “from a simple steel bicyclist’s watch to finely decorated pocket watches” [Brunner].

But it was third-generation Louis Cartier, whose interest in Eighteenth Century pocket watches has been sited as impetus for “creation of the firm’s own watch production.” Around this same time, Alberto Santos-Dumont had moved from his native Brazil to Paris and was experimenting with development of controlled flight via dirigible. The two became friends, and when the aviator requested a watch that he could wear on his person, negating the need to retrieve it from a pocket in order to check the time during flight, Louis Cartier responded by creating what many believe to have been the first “modern,” if not “pilot’s” watch, featuring a leather wrist-strap [Siminski], powered by a movement from Edmond Jaeger (1858-1922).

A consumer production line was released in 1911, its first for men, called “Santos Dumont” [Cologni].

Somewhat paradoxically, Louis Cartier rejected the notion of wristwatches as “whimsical,” having observed wartime applications where myriad soldiers “had already demonstrated [how] the wristwatch could be of vital assistance in situations when time was of the essence” [Cologni]. But he also appreciated the important distinction of a watch worn openly as “an everyday accessory with the potential of a jewel.” Thus, in collaboration with Mr Jaeger and Jacques-David LeCoultre (1875-1948), the Cartier “Tank” model was brought to market in 1919, after three years in development — as blend of aesthetics in concert with mechanics.

Although technical innovations slowed around the time of World War II, and, significantly, with the closely timed deaths of both Louis and Jacques Cartier (1884-1941), it was, perhaps ironically, this diffused business model that helped insulate the company from effects of “the quartz crisis” {James}, Cartier by then had “become the most respected and sought-after luxury brand in the world — above all with regard to its finished pieces of haute joaillerie (fine jewelry).”

At the same time, Revolution magazine has credited 1976 “Must de Cartier” [Ip] Alain Dominique Perrin (1942- ) [Perrin] with having made the “breakthrough” that lead the company “to become well-known to the general public” {Revolution}. By departing from its history of making wristwatches in gold and platinum, Cartier would launch an “affordable” sports watch largely made from stainless steel. Based on the Santos-Dumont, the Santos “Carrée” was “born to be a two-tone timepiece” in 1978.

The screws on the bezel and the screws on the bracelet of the watch, in gold, were the right elements to highlight the combination of these two metals. There have not been many timepieces since, even at Cartier, that look so good in two-tone as the Santos.

As George Cramer of Fratello Watches wrote in his own self-published effort, Cartier: The Gentleman’s Files, “The first Cartier watch made in steel, the Santos, was in ’78 actually the down-grade, that became in no time, the world’s most famous and most copied mens watch ever!”

En Route to 007

Earliest Cartier brand references in connection with James Bond came from Ian Fleming, in two novels, beginning with Moonraker, published on April 7, 1955. Then, a year later, 007 brought up the name, along with Van Cleef and Boucheron, as context for his familiarity with “big American jewelers” in New York.

A seven-year absence followed before his next reference — in “The Property of a Lady,” commissioned by Sotheby’s for publication in its house publication, The Ivory Hammer. In that short story, however, it was via voice of the author himself that contrasted the environs of the auction house visited by James Bond to “the excitement of Cartier’s, Boucheron or Van Cleef ….” Finally, posthumously, “Cartier’s” was one among a half-dozen possible exotic indulgences (including a Bentley motor car) imagined by Major Dexter Smythe as options for spending his anticipated loot as a newly cast criminal.

In his personal life, “Cartier” was often referenced as a means of demonstrating that Mr Fleming was a “writer of distinction” [Lycett]. And, in addition to the aforementioned watch to Blanche Blackwell, he chose from Cartier’s a ball-point pen and likely a diamond brooch as gifts of appreciation.

Cartier was also on-set when the tenure of Roger Moore as James Bond and Seiko as James Bond watchmaker came to an end with A View to a Kill in 1985. The luxury name received coveted recognition under those gratefully acknowledged by the Producers for co-operation in having made that film. Christopher Walken wore Cartier sunglasses in-character as Max Zorin [Fassel]. Then Pierce Brosnan was up for the role as successor in The Living Daylights [Glen], and he wore a Cartier Panthère for his 1986 screen test [Bouzereau; Tong].

However, the lead role went to Timothy Dalton instead, of course. But John Glen returned to direct his fourth of five 007 motion pictures for EON Productions. Notably, a two-tone, stainless steel and gold Cartier watch was visible on his wrist at various points for his work on The Living Daylights.

Double-0 Watch Status

Cartier first became a James Bond watch through the premier of The Living Daylights on June 29, 1987.

Although no watchmaker was named as such in the closing credits, “The Producers gratefully acknowledge the co-operation of” crawl listed a total of eleven contributors there. Cartier appeared among the only five brands: Aston Martin Lagonda, Audi, Bollinger Champagne, and Philips Electronics.

Observations

During the fourth quarter of 2021, social media influencer Nick Gould posted a black and white “behind the scenes” photograph purportedly from the Tangier rooftop sequences in The Living Daylights. Although he did not acknowledge his source for either this or the second, color image included in his post, the independent Thunderballs website includes what appear to be identical images, as well as a color version of the above-referenced rooftop photograph — with attribution [a].

In fall of the following year, Mr Gould was asked if he thought the exact model was a Carrée or Galbee, and he wrote that the was “not sure,” and in no instance was a model number proffered. Notwithstanding, during an interview for a 2023 feature in Revolution magazine when he was asked to name his “top spots,” he replied, “I’d also say the Cartier Santos seen, albeit for the most fleeting moment, on Timothy Dalton’s James Bond’s wrist in The Living Daylights” [Povey].

Notes

  1. “Stills photographers credited as Keith Hamshere and George Whitear (second unit) [Thunderballs] …. Special contributions to this section of the archive are Laurent Perriot, Julian Keen, Raymond Flindall and Tim Greaves.”

— Dell Deaton
Updated: September 6, 2024
January 13, 2024

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Bibliography

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