For decades it was of little interest beyond Cartier enthusiasts… until last year when a 1972 example fetched SFr403,200 (about £378,000), eight times its low estimate, at Phillips in Geneva.Cartier debuts with a new Cartier Pebble limited edition.

But whereas the Pebble’s sibling, the Crash, arrived bang on time in 1967 – capturing the psychedelic spirit of the times – the Pebble made its debut in 1972, when Britain was already hurtling down the lift shaft of economic decline.Īt the time both watches were made in extremely small numbers but over the intervening years, the Crash was periodically revived and has now become a seven-figure watch beloved by Tyler, the Creator, Jay-Z and Kanye West among others, while the last Pebble was made in 1977, after which, excuse the pun, it sank like a stone. Each developed its own ranges of products that were interpretations of Cartier’s classics. The Paris, New York and London businesses owned by different branches of the family were not reunited until the late ’70s. Made by the London workshops, it dates from the fag end of the Swinging ’60s. Until recently the watch barely warranted a footnote in the history of Cartier. It is incredibly simple yet uniquely recognisable.Ĭartier 50th-anniversary Pebble-Shaped watch, £40,800

The design derives its effect from the tension between the circular case and square dial, its corners oriented so that it sits like a lozenge with corners at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. What is more, I am pretty sure that, when released next month, the 150-piece 50th-anniversary release of the watch aficionados know as the “Pebble” will make hot cakes seem positively glacial when it comes to sales.Īs the nickname suggests, it resembles the sort of stone you might skim along the surface of the water: a shape that invites you to caress it, promising the tactile satisfaction of a pebble worn to smooth, geometric perfection by aeons of erosion. No complications, no gem-setting, not even a gold bracelet… it is a mark of how far Cartier has come as a watchmaker in recent years that it can charge £40,800 for a time-only wristwatch.

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