C.1960s Rare vintage Cartier “Baignoire” Flinque Blue enamel bezel manual winding in 18KYG with original mesh bracelet

Description

Vintage. No box nor papers & a box will be given.

Fresh to the market for the first time in over thirty years, this watch has never been shown to public nor offered for sale in decades until now and it excites us very much to share this with you.

This is an extremely rare and attractive vintage pre-Baignoire by Cartier, dating back to more than fifty years ago in 1960s~70s. According to Cartier, the Baignoire design which literally means bathtub in French was born in 1912 when Louis Cartier stretched the traditional round shape to an oval case to make a watch for the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. The oval design was officially introduced in 1958 and the name Baignoire adopted in 1973. Since then, there have been several revisions to the design including an Allongée (stretched) and some integrated with bracelets or encrusted with precious stones.

This particular specimen features a gorgeous Flinqué (guilloché) blue enamel bezel and the hallmark sapphire tip cabochon crown that was made by Swiss watchmaker Beuche Girord exclusively for Cartier to the American market. The movement and 18ct gold case were signed by the Swiss manufacturer while the dial was signed Cartier with typical Cartier’s hand stamped serial numbers on the back cover of the case. The bracelet is 14ct (US market) yellow gold, made by C&B and stamped by Cartier on the buckle with serial numbers.

This watch is rather large and will attract male collectors of vintages and this is further aided by the long bracelet which fits a large 17.5-18.5cm wrist and can be sized for smaller wrists by jewellers.

There are numerals hand-stamped numbers on the case and buckle with a particular number “5.69” that’s likely denoting May of 1969.

It takes about 15 winds on the crown to full power reserve and is keeping time very well. This watch is not water resistant.

This is a unique piece and probably the only one to ever surface in the past few decades as most Baignoire you’ll find are under 40yrs old and usually with a quartz movement. A genuine vintage like this is very rare and appeallng to collectors. Learned collectors will know that Alfred Cartier had three sons, Jacques, Louis and Pierre. Each brother took care of a market from Paris to London and New York. This remarkable watch was for the post-war American market.

Here are the current collection by Cartier and all with quartz movements.

Between 1950s to 1970s, the mechanisms created by Swiss watchmaker Bueche Girod were so admired that other jewellery houses such as Cartier would source cases and movements from the company. The brand also produced watches for other notable brands such as Bulova and Universal Geneve.

Bueche Girod was founded in 1947 in Bienne, Switzerland by Vital Bueche who combined his last name with that of his wife Edwige Girod for the company name. The brand targetted the high-end American market and found favour with Hollywood stars such as Frank Sinatra and Robert de Niro.