When Louis Cartier founded his company in Paris in 1847, he set out to produce unique jewelry with powerful but simplistic aesthetics. Cartier stands for timelessness in every day but is still iconic.
Among their many beautiful items, Cartier watches are designed for men, women, and unisex. With their history as a fine jeweler, watches are an extension of their exquisite artistry and one of the best reasons to buy a Cartier watch is that is a luxury that holds its value.
The Cartier brand is synonymous with sumptuous, premium materials, and thanks to their high-tech watchmaking laboratory, only precision, and high-quality timepieces are produced.
Did you know that Cartier started producing luxury watches one year before Rolex? In 1904, they created a watch specifically for Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont. Named the “Santos de Cartier”, many believe it to be the first-ever purpose-designed wristwatch, changing the history of horology and starting the movement away from traditional pocket watches.
Today, Cartier is one of the largest watchmakers in the world and also produces its in-house calibers and supplies movement to other luxury brand watchmakers.
There is a huge range of features in Cartier wristwatches. You’ll find them in gold, steel, and two-tone. They run on manual winding mechanical movements, automatic calibers, or quartz movements. There are simple time-keeping pieces and highly complicated masterpieces. Whether you’re looking for an everyday business wear watch or a dress watch, Cartier has a perfect model. Let’s take a look at some of the best Cartier watches for men.
Cartier Stainless Steel Tank Watch
Inspired by the heavy, blocky-looking tanks from World War I and known for their distinctive slightly elongated square case, this is a sturdy but elegant timepiece with a classic roman numeral dial with sapphire crystal and a quartz movement. The Cartier Tank has long been the choice of busy men. It is not a watch for lounging around the pool or attending the theater. This is for the man who works busy days and this wristwatch is impressive in its understated luxury. The Tank Solo is a terrific level-entry Cartier watch while the Tank Americaine offers a more elongated design. The Tank Francaise is a stunner in yellow gold while the Cartier Tank MC is a statement maker. If you want a truly statement-making watch in the inimitable style of Louis-Francois Cartier, it has to be the diamond-encrusted Tank Asymétrique. There are Tank models with gold and/or stainless steel bracelets or alligator leather straps and the Tank also comes in ladies’ versions, so if you’re thinking of matching pairs as a couple...
It may seem as if this article is favoring stainless steel Cartier watches, but they can’t be faulted. It is a mark of good watchmaking that they can make such a desirable watch out of a utility rather than luxury material and the stainless steel models are among the most popular Cartier watches. Available in various models including the Santos-Dumont, Santos 100, and Santos Galbee, you might argue that these too are for working businessmen on the go, but they seem to have a more stern aesthetic than the classic Cartier tank. There is something very severe and almost imposing about the Santos models. It is rare to see an imposing watch that isn't of military-derived design. The style asks for attention without drawing it. There are several unisex varieties of the Santos that are truly unisex because it is hard to assign a gender to them, especially the mid-sized ones. They seem to look masculine on men and feminine on women, which again, is the mark of good design.
The Ballon Bleu de Cartier is a watch for the snappy dresser. It is a situational watch that can easily look out of place if paired with the incorrect outfits and accessories. The stainless steel models look good and easily make an impression, but it is the 18k rose gold and mixed rose gold versions that make the most striking impression. The round face, the fitting, the bezel, and the overall design are cleverly engineered to eliminate harsh lines. Even the way the numbers are laid out on the face seems to dissolve hard lines without creating a blur. The clever elimination of hard lines is probably why the watch looks so good in rose gold or the two-tone rose-gold steel mix. It sets a very impactful contrast, and the 18K shiny gold helps to add a touch of elegance. This watch is for a man who knows the subtlety of carefully chosen outfits. It has a measure of sleek sophistication that shines through and helps highlight the precision engineering that took place to create this watch.
Perhaps one of the few watches that Cartier overtly marketed as masculine, though this was back in 2010 when masculinity wasn’t a word that got you canceled. The Calibre de Cartier watch features a very bold and distinctively masculine design. It is outfitted with a 42mm case and has an eye-catching XII insignia at noon and a sub-dial for seconds at the 6 o’clock mark. The sub-dial is why some people call this a sports watch, but it is far from a sports watch. This watch was built to catch the eye. It was built to generate jealousy in one’s fellow man. The size of the watch is striking, as is the larger XII insignia. It is an eye-catching watch that is hard to miss on the wrist. However, the seconds subscribe dial and even the numbers themselves are not easy to read and the models without contrast on the hands make it even more difficult to read. The redeeming feature is that the watch is so big that it doesn't have to be easy to read because it is hard to miss. It has a face that is so big that other people can read the time from your wrist. This watch wouldn’t look out of place while out for an evening, but it was better built for leisure and outdoor activities.
One of the more fem-centric lines in the Cartier watch collection, it was designed in 1914 as a watch for females and has been adopted over the years by men. These days, this model of watch is still popular with women but is also synonymous with leisure sports. Known as a fishing watch, boating watch, a bowls watch, this is not due to its design and straps (which are often unsuitable) but more that it sits very flush and very flat on the wrist. It doesn't move about during light leisure activities, which means you never have to touch it with your other hand to adjust it. The watch also has a clear display, albeit a small one, which makes it a little easier to make out in low-light conditions. Plus, some men enjoy the unisex nature of this watch. They enjoy its more feminine charms. Some of the slightly larger models have been seen on male leaders from different countries, and this timepiece design has seen a fair amount of history over its lifespan.
Created in 1933 as one of the first weather-resistant watches, it has since become a mixed design. Some very good female designs use the bold round shape of the watch and its thick metal to work in contrast with its face. The hands are then in contrast with the face color. As a result, it makes the female versions very striking. The other side of this mixed design comes from how the watches have diverged into more of a sports utility watch. One wouldn’t recommend you go swimming in it as it is not water-resistant, but the male watch has features and settings that make it a fair sports watch. It seems unfair to call the male version of the Pasha de Cartier a casual watch, but it goes with just about any outfit and looks just as suitable on a golfer’s wrist as it does a sales executive’s wrist. The mixed metal gold and stainless steel versions strike a nice contrast that makes them a little more impressive, but this is certainly not a watch you would wear on an expensive night out or for a high-powered business meeting. There are a few all-gold models that may look good on a night out, but the more ornate models look far better in the women’s range than the men’s watches. The female versions are more easily able to exploit their elaborate design.
The Stainless Steel Santos Men’s Watch
The Ballon Bleu Timepiece
The Cartier Calibre Watches
Cartier Panthere Watches
Pasha Watches
Cartier Roadster Watches
