Cartier Luxury & Sport Watches

Société Cartier (/ˈkɑːrti.eɪ/; French: [kaʁtje]) is a French luxury goods conglomerate company which designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells jewelry and watches.

Founded in Paris, France, in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier, the company remained under family control until 1964. The company maintains its headquarters in Paris, although it is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Compagnie Financière Richemont SA.

Cartier is well known for its jewelry and wristwatches, including the "Bestiary" (best illustrated by the Panthère brooch of the 1940s created for Wallis Simpson), the diamond necklace created for Bhupinder Singh the Maharaja of Patiala, and the "Santos" wristwatch of 1904.

Cartier has a long history of sales to royalty and celebrities. For example, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, has been seen wearing the Cartier Ballon Bleu timepiece. King Edward VII of England referred to Cartier as "the jeweler of kings and the king of jewelers.

For his coronation in 1902, Edward VII ordered 27 tiaras and issued a royal warrant to Cartier in 1904. Similar warrants soon followed from the courts of Spain, Portugal, Russia, Siam, Greece, Serbia, Belgium, Romania, Egypt, Albania, Monaco, and the House of Orleans.

Cartier has developed many different watches. The classic collections are:

Men's Watches

Ballon Bleu de Cartier
Tank
Calibre de Cartier
Clé de Cartier
Drive de Cartier
Santos de Cartier
Rotonde de Cartier
Ronde Croisiere de Cartier
Ronde Louis Cartier
Ronde Solo de Cartier
Tortue
Pasha de Cartier

Women's Watches

Tank
Ballon Bleu de Cartier
Clé de Cartier
Baignoire
Santos de Cartier
Creative Jeweled Watches
Crash
Tortue
Ronde Louis Cartier
Ronde Solo de Cartier
Panthere de Cartier

Items to Consider when Buying a Luxury Watch

1. Overall Design and Materials: Does it appeal to the buyer's eye? What are the materials used? Beyond the staples of Gold, Silver and Titanium there is a wide range of new materials on the market which work beautifully in luxury watches. Avoid anything plated, i.e. gold-plating.

2. The Watch Maker and History: Pick a seller or watch maker with a solid reputation and a untarnished history of making great products. Last place you want to make an exception is when buying an expensive timepiece.

3. Complications: Complications are number of different functions a watch can perform. Do your research of these as the price of a mechanical watch increases exponentially with the number of complex movements.

4. Movement: These are the intricate movements and design on the inside and can be either made in-house (considered better but more costly) or by third-party. If it's done by third-party, look up the reputation of that third-party.

5. Materials & Jewels: Check for number of jewels on the inside as well as out-side displayed jewels. Inner-jewels contribute to smoother and longer lasting mechanical parts.

6. Return Policies: Most reputable watch sellers and makers allow for easy returns if the piece is not to your liking. Sometimes it takes a few times of trial and error to get the right watch your comfortable with and enjoy wearing. A No Hassles return policy is best.

7. Budget: Considering many luxury watches are high in price, some more than a car or home, it may be a good idea to consider your budget or plan to get into a nicer watch. Many places will let you trade in and trade up with additional deposits. This way you can work your way up to a nice mechanical watch after some time and while getting the feel of the type of watch you prefer.