Cartier Sterling Silver and Gold Inlay Foldable Travel Clock with Box

Cartier’s design pedigree knows no bounds. From designing, creating, and launching the world’s first pilot’s, sports, and tool watch with the Santos Dumont in 1904, and thus creating the modern men’s wristwatch as we know it, Cartier have been a powerhouse of the industry since its infancy. Of course, it would be remiss to describe Cartier as only a watchmaker. In fairness, they’re a lot more than that. They probably aren’t known by the layperson for their watches, rather their jewellery is what has earned them their esteemed name and brand cache. A design house more than just about anything else, Cartier have created a litany of amazing objects, and what we have here speaks to that very fact, an early 1920s foldable desk clock, this timepiece is a marvel.

Featuring a three-part foldable case made of silver with gold inlay, this desk clock can fold into a rather compact size, about as big as a vintage cigarette case, or be unfolded to stand upright to display is wonderfully large white enamel dial, with beautiful Art Deco Arabic numerals and matching cathedral-style hands. Boasting a subtle pop of colour through its red 24-hour scale inside of its large 12-hour track, this timepiece’s display is beautifully complex and rewards you the more you look at it, just like its two external case parts, with their subtle ribbed texture giving the clock’s case another level to its complexity.

Powered by a manual-wind movement marked Cartier Paris and presented with its original Paris-mad leather carry case, it is certainly safe to assume this clock was made for Cartier’s Paris division, the brand’s purest form.

Presented in wonderful condition for its 100-year age, this clock’s case unlocks, unfolds, stands, closes and locks perfectly. Its movement runs and functions as it should. Its silver and gold inlay case is in very good condition with only the typical light swirling scratches you would expect to see from a vintage desk clock. The case lacks any large signs of damage such as dents, but it does feature a small number of slightly deeper scratches on its inside. The dial itself is in very good condition in general, with no surface abrasions or loss of printing. There is a very thin chip from the dial's enamel at the outermost periphery at 10 o'clock. This is hard to spot under normal lighting but is easier to see under UV light. The black cathedral hands have lost some of their black paint, and the clock was relumed at one point in its life, with its original radium lume replaced with tritium. This was likely done circa 1960, as suggested by the rather low radioactivity, even for tritium. The original crown also works and functions as it should.

Brand: Cartier
Model: Foldable Three-Part Desk Clock
Reference: N/A
Set: Clock and box
Year: Circa 1920s
Dial: White
Material: Silver with gold inlay
Movement: Manual-wind cal. 15J
Case Diameter: 80mm x 86mm