An icon of the swinging sixties 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.

The Cartier Crash is certainly a superlative timepiece and it is perhaps the most celebrated and sought-after Cartier wristwatch ever by esteemed collectors. The present timepiece produced in the early 1990s is one of the rarest variants amongst its breed, the Cartier Crash in platinum. Extremely limited in production, to date, no more than a handful of examples have graced the auction market. Furthermore, those who do own one hardly ever sell them due to the rarity of the model, which underlies the exceptional desirability of the present timepiece. Cased in the cool of platinum, the Crash features an extraordinarily warm off white dial, each Roman numeral painted with the classic black colour, making the iconic blued steel hand stands out immediately when one gaze upon the watch. Gorgeously preserved, the present example with a voluptuous case and sinuous contour uninterrupted is a gem for many. With roaring demands for the Cartier Crash in recent times, the present example is surely a rare opportunity that hardly ever surface for the discerned collector yearning for this beloved icon.