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Pre-Owned
Cartier Watches

Established 1847

Recognising our longstanding quality and expertise in the pre-owned watch sector, Cartier has appointed Watchfinder & Co. as one of their first ever official pre-owned watch partners. Every single one of our Cartier watches* has been meticulously inspected, authenticated and prepared by our trusted team of expert watchmakers and now comes with a 24-month Cartier warranty as standard. *Please see our FAQs for details.

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Cartier

Ballon Bleu (86)

Tank (43)

Santos (32)

Pasha (21)

Panthere (15)

Roadster (13)

Ronde Louis (10)

Pre-Owned Cartier Calibre De Cartier Watch

Calibre De Cartier (9)

Pre-Owned Cartier Ballon Bleu De Cartier Watch

Ballon Bleu De Cartier (8)

Baignoire (8)

Pre-Owned Cartier Rotonde De Cartier Watch

Rotonde De Cartier (5)

Pre-Owned Cartier Ronde De Cartier Watch

Ronde De Cartier (4)

Pre-Owned Cartier Panthere De Cartier Watch

Panthere De Cartier (4)

Collection Privee (1)

Ronde Croisiere (1)

Pre-Owned Cartier Ballon Blanc De Cartier Watch

Ballon Blanc De Cartier (1)

La Dona De Cartier (1)

Cloche (1)

Ronde LC (1)

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Cartier History

Cartier watches have more history, relevance and pedigree than some might realize. Although this purveyor of fine jewelry and leather accessories is not predominately a watchmaker, it has had a significant horological influence since it began selling timepieces to its discerning Parisian clientele in the late 19th century.

Parisian roots

Its interest in watchmaking began in earnest in 1847 when 29-year-old Louis-Francois Cartier took over the Paris-based workshop of master watchmaker Adolph Picard. His aim was to continue the tradition of fine watch and jewelry making, and it didn’t take long for the brand’s reputation to spread across the country.

Less than ten years later, the sale of the company’s goods extended to royalty, namely Princess Mathilde, cousin of Emperor Napoleon III, who was the first of the company's countless aristocratic customers.

As Louis-Francois grew older, he enlisted the help of his three sons, Louis, Pierre and Jacques, who helped grow the brand. Boutiques opened across Paris, garnering much interest and excitement, the social elite flocking to join the ever-growing list of clients purchasing the brand’s beautifully crafted products.

Jeweler of kings

The brothers expanded the business further still by opening a boutique on the prestigious New Burlington Street in London. This was in 1902, the same year as the coronation of King Edward VII. This strategy proved to be a wise one as only two years later the company received a royal warrant to become the king’s official purveyor of fine jewelry.

The king had declared Cartier as “joaillier des rois, roi des joailliers” or “jeweler to kings, king of jewelers”. In that same year, the company was appointed official purveyor to King Alfonso XIII of Spain, as well as the courts of Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Greece and Monaco, among many others.

The birth of the Cartier Santos

When aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont complained that the size, shape and unreliability of pocket watches made them unsuitable for flying, his friend Louis Cartier offered to help. In 1904 he designed a timepiece that fastened to the wrist with a leather band, thus creating one of the earliest men’s wristwatches.

Named the Santos, it was a hit with Santos-Dumont, and was soon available commercially, helping men’s wristwatches become fashionable for the first time. The following decade saw the launch of the Tank, another Cartier watch that would go on to become a classic.

The company continued to develop with the expertise of watchmaker Edmond Jaeger, who later co-founded Jaeger-LeCoultre. Edmond Jaeger was an expert at designing ultra-thin movements, ideal for the new era of Cartier watches.

Movements from Swiss brands such as Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet were also used in Cartier watches over the decades, cementing its reputation as a purveyor of fine watches.

The Cartier ethos

The Cartier ethos is to celebrate form as an equal of function, resulting in pieces that are bold and mesmerizing, such as the Panthere collection. Another notable creation is the Mystery Clock, a mantelpiece clock with hands that appeared to float inside a transparent crystal face. Cartier also makes wristwatches with this style of dial, which are extremely sought-after.

The brand’s contribution to art, culture and design is like no other jeweler to date, and its creations continue to amaze and enthral in the 21st century.

Notable Cartier models

Across the Cartier range are several distinctive watches that have achieved icon status since their introduction.

The Santos

The aforementioned Santos was the brainchild of Louis Cartier, one of the founder’s three grandsons, who was an acquaintance of the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos Dumont.

When Santos-Dumont complained about the impracticality of using a pocket watch while flying, Louis Cartier created a wristwatch on a leather strap that could be glanced at with ease.

It was time-only, square-cased, small by today’s standards, and came with the cabochon crown that would later become a signature feature of all Cartier watches. Today the Santos comes in various styles and case sizes, with most featuring the now-famous bezel with six screws, giving it a more robust aesthetic. It’s also available on a matching one-link bracelet. Time-and-date and chronograph models are also available.

The Tank

In 1917, Louis Cartier came up with another inspired watch design that would go on to become a classic, namely the Tank.

This time the design was heavily influenced by French military tanks on the Western Front during World War One. Viewed from above, these tanks were rectangular in shape, with protruding tread tracks at each corner. The watch’s parallel brancards emulate this shape, lending it a distinctive silhouette.

Over the decades there have been many variations of the Tank, from the elongated Tank Americaine to the squatter form of the Tank Divan or the more conventional Tank Must.

It’s available in stainless-steel or precious metal and equipped with a variety of movements, from automatic to the brand’s SolarBeat, a light-powered photovoltaic quartz caliber.

The Panthere

Similar in design to the Santos but significantly smaller, the elegant Panthere collection was launched in 1983 and acknowledges the ubiquity of the panther as Cartier’s most emblematic animal.

This elusive feline has also appeared in everything from brooches to bracelets and was an inspiration for Cartier’s legendary creative director, Jeanne Toussaint, throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

Today the Panthere and its ultra-flexible five-link bracelet is one of the most glamorous Cartier watches in the brand’s line-up, worn by everyone from singer Dua Lipa to Hollywood actresses Anne Hathaway and Gwyneth Paltrow. It comes in a variety of case sizes, from 25mm to 42mm, and is made from stainless-steel, gold or two-tone.

The Ballon Bleu

Launched in 2007, the Ballon Bleu is predominately a time-only or time-and-date watch characterized by its harmonious round case with a distinctive arch protecting the cabochon crown.

Classic Roman numerals surround the center of the guilloche opaline dial and the blued-steel sword-shaped hands are another Cartier hallmark.

It comes in stainless steel, gold or two-tone, as well as diamond-set versions, and in a variety of sizes, from 28mm to 42mm. It’s paired with either a bracelet or strap and is equipped with an automatic movement, with the exception of the 28mm version which comes with a quartz movement.

Popular vintage models

There are many vintage Cartier watches that are now hugely sought-after, especially at high-profile auctions where certain models can command seven-figure sums. At the time of writing, the most expensive Cartier watch ever sold at auction is a Cartier Crash from 1990, which achieved $2,028,800 at Christie's Geneva "Rare Watches" auction in 2026.

The Crash is one of the most unconventional watches on the market, with an asymmetric case shape that resembles one of Salvador Dali’s melting clocks.

Various versions of the Tank are also popular on the vintage market, as is any Cartier in precious metal produced in small numbers.

Cartier watches made during the Art Deco period from the early 1920s to the late 1930s are also incredibly popular, as are those with an intriguing provenance – i.e., owned by a celebrity from the world of sport or entertainment.

After all, famous Cartier wearers include the likes of legendary heavyweight boxer, Muhammad Ali, Princess Diana, Jackie Onassis and artist Andy Warhol.

What materials are Cartier watches made from?

Cartier offers a variety of watches in different materials, from stainless steel to precious metals, including yellow, rose and white gold, as well as palladium. The watchmaker also produces many two-tone models—predominantly in steel and yellow or rose gold — which are commonly found across the Santos, Panthère and Ballon Bleu lines.

Its diamond-set models, where the gems are usually paved onto the bezel or dial, add an extra layer of glamour. Cartier has also used an amorphous diamond-like carbon (ADLC) coating—similar to physical vapor disposition (PVD)—on some of its stainless-steel models to achieve a sleek all-black look.

The Cartier Calibre de Cartier Diver is one of the brand’s sportier offerings and one of its only models to boast a ceramic bezel—following in the footsteps of other contemporary versions of sports watches like the Rolex Submariner.

Cartier movements

Before Cartier opened its manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, in 2000, it relied on movements from several different watchmakers, including Jaeger-LeCoultre - with whom Cartier formed a joint venture - as well as two of the ‘Big Three’ watchmakers: Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet. It also sourced movements from Piaget and Movado, the latter proving particularly useful for its triple-date watches.

Cartier’s transition into focusing on manufacturing its own movements in-house started in 1977 when it partnered with Ebel. Cartier eventually bought Ebel’s watchmaking business, as well as a few other smaller suppliers throughout La Chaux-de-Fonds to combine watchmaking at the new factory that opened in 2000. In 2008 the world finally got to see the first watch movement designed and produced entirely by Cartier.

Standout movements

Whether you’re buying a contemporary or vintage Cartier watch, the brand’s movements are extremely high quality and can be mechanical or battery powered, depending on the model. Here are a few key Cartier calibers.

Santos Skeleton 9611 MC manual-wind

The manual-wind Santos Skeleton Movement 9611 MC is an instantly recognizable watch movement thanks to its bridges in the shape of Roman numerals. This patented design makes Cartier the only watchmaker with a skeleton movement featuring bridges with a built-in time-telling function. It boasts a 70-hour power reserve.

1847 MC automatic

Named after the year Cartier was founded, the 1847 MC is an in-house automatic movement featuring a power reserve of up to 42 hours and a central seconds hand with a date display. It was introduced in 2015 for use in models like the Cle de Cartier and the largest version of the Tank Must.

Skeleton Micro-rotor 9629 MC automatic

Introduced in 2023 for a Santos Dumont automatic skeleton model, the 9629 MC pays tribute to the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont with its winding rotor in the shape of a miniaturized replica of the Demoiselle, a series of small aircraft designed by the legendary aviator in 1907. Its power reserve is 44 hours.

SolarBeat movement

The innovative SolarBeat movement was introduced in 2021, debuting inside the relaunched Tank Must. This photovoltaic movement is powered by solar energy that reaches the photovoltaic cells hidden beneath the dial through the perforated Roman numerals. This movement has an estimated autonomy of sixteen years. It took two years for the development team to integrate it into the Tank Must.

At Watchfinder we sell a number of pre-owned Cartier models, from the Tank to the Santos and many more. Browse our selection online today to find your perfect Cartier timepiece and add another chapter to its story.

Pre-Owned
Cartier Watches

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Pre-Owned Cartier Watches

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Cartier History

The Watch Magazine

The Wrist Watch rankings

Feature: The watches of The Gentlemen

Feature: The watches of The Sopranos

Feature: The best Swiss watch brands

Pre-Owned
Cartier Watches