A new Cartier auction record was set in Hong Kong on Friday, with a final price of HK$15,616,000 (approx. US$1.99 million / £1.48 million). The previous record was set in 2022 at US$1.65 million by a 1967 original London Crash. Which is interesting because the new record was set by a 1987 Cartier London Crash, one of only three reportedly produced as a special order that year, and the lead lot in Sotheby’s “The Shapes of Cartier” series.
Beyond the obvious distortion of its case, the lesser-known details are what make this watch record-worthy. Cartier London was at its prime during the 1960s and 70s before its creative heart, the Wright & Davies Workshop, closed doors in 1976. That’s where you’ll notice the first discrepancy – how is it possible for a London Crash to have been made in 1987 if the workshop had closed more than a decade earlier?
The answer is that the 18k yellow gold case, 42.5mm by 23mm, was made for Cartier by Arthur Withers, a former Wright & Davies craftsman who was permitted to keep the closed workshop’s tooling and maquettes after 1976. It was produced as part of a special order with only two other Crashes produced in 1987, making it exceedingly rare.
The estimate was HK$3.2 – $6 million, or US$400,000 – $800,000. It hammered at HK$15,616,000 after a reported nine-minute bidding war on phones and the floor, ultimately to a Japanese collector. The record for most expensive Cartier wristwatch at auction has now been broken by two London Crashes in a row, one from the year of the collection’s debut and the other from after the workshop closed, showing that a watch’s personal history is just as important (if not more so) as the watch itself.
Sotheby’s “The Shapes of Cartier” series, which sees 300 historically significant Cartier watches head to auction in one of the largest collections of its kind, is set to continue at their upcoming Important Watches Auctions. Next in Geneva on 10 May and then in New York on 15 June.
@sothebys A rare London Cartier Crash set a new auction record for the most valuable Cartier wristwatch ever sold in yesterday’s Important Watches sale at #SothebysHongKong. Believed to be one of only three examples made in 1987, watch as Sotheby’s Sam Hines brings the hammer down at a final price of $15,616,000 million HKD. Luxury week heads to #SothebysGeneva ♬ original sound – Sotheby’s
More details at Sotheby’s.
