An icon of the swinging sixties and crafted by the great maker of shaped watches, the Cartier Crash remains not just one of the most radical designs born in 1967 but one of the greatest throughout the decades. With a mysterious origin of the birth of this model, rumour has it that the inspiration comes from a melted Cartier Baignoire from the fire of a car crash, others refer it to the surrealist Salvador Dali’s most recognised work, Persistence of Memory. While the tale of the timepiece is compelling and romantic, the origin was addressed in Francesca Cartier Brickell’s book, The Cartiers, where she recounts a conversation with her grandfather Jean-Jacques Cartier, about how the audacity of the design was sketched out with artisan Rupert Emmerson.

Today, the Cartier Crash has become somewhat of a cultural icon, adorning the wrists of celebrities and artists alike. It represents everything that Cartier is best known for: merging design, form and function together which transforms a timepiece beyond a "watch" and into a piece of art.

Lavish, extravagant and luxurious, the present Crash Tigrée is an embodiment of the Ethos of Cartier. Not only is it a study in design, it also merges haute joallerie with the very best of of Rare Handcrafts in horology. This version features champlevé enameling made by the team's Maison des Métiers d’Art, imbuing the case with gradient tones of blue and green, with diamonds set in between made to look like the appearance of a Tiger. Made in a 50-piece limited edition and released in 2022, the model was an instant success and sold out upon its launch.