Cartier watches
| brand / manufacturer |
Cartier |
| website |
www.cartier.com |
| business segment |
Luxury watches, jewellery, eyewear, perfumes. |
| Onlineshops, where you can buy cartier watches online |
www.amazon.com |
Cartier SA is a luxury watch manufacturer and jeweller located in Paris, France. The family business was founded in 1847 in Paris by Louis-Françoise Cartier. During the following decades, his son Alfred Cartier and afterwards his nephews Pierre, Jacques and Louis developed Cartier to a well-known worldwide brand.
“Santos” – the first wristwatch ever was made by Louis Cartier
The break through of the brand Cartier took place in 1904, when Louis designed a flat wristwatch for Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian aviator and friend of the family. The watch was named “Santos” and made history as Cartiers first man’s wristwatch – and the first wristwatch ever. Their clients have been very pleased as well with the practical product.
Louis was responsible for lots of the famous and successful designs of the company. He created the so called “mystery clocks”, for instance. These watches have a transparent dial and their clockworks are hidden. Another splendid creation of Louis was an exotic wristwatch including multicoloured jewels named “Tutti Frutti”.
The Cartier Tank watch has today more than thirty varieties
Already in 1907, Cartier was quickly growing and had subsidiaries in St. Petersburg, London and New York. The company was developing into one of the world’s most successful watch companies. A special highlight in the history of Cartier was a watertight watch manufactured mainly for the Pasha of Marrakesh in 1932. Fifteen years earlier, Louis designed the “Cartier Tank watch”. This watch is still the most famous clock of the company and has today more than thirty varieties.
At this time, the company began printing reference numbers on the underside of the watches. The presence of these “four-digit-codes” is proving the watches’ originality. The company kept growing and in 1964, Jean-Jacques, Claude and Marionne (the children of Jacques, Louis and Pierre) sold the whole business.
A new concept – “Les Must de Cartier”
The new owners – a group of several investors – started to design new products that should keep the quality of Cartiers watches in the past. The recent concept was named “Les Must de Cartier (Cartier – it is a must!)”. At present, Bernard Fornas is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Cartier. The headquarter of the company is still located in Paris, France. Cartier is regarded as the no. two seller of luxurious watches behind Rolex. In addition to that, Cartier is the worldwide no. one seller of luxurious jewels.
