VINTAGE CARTIER CODEX

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The original Cartier Crash was made for the order of Hollywood actor Stewart Granger, who expressed to New Bond Street a desire to have a watch "unlike any other". This request was taken care of by Jean-Jacques Cartier’s favorite designer, Rupert Emmerson. Influenced by the crazy Swinging London period that the city was going through, it seems like Emmerson blended the shapes of the Baignoire Maxi and Salvador Dalí’s melting clocks, which resulted in a different and unique form.

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Once the design finished, the Cartier London master watchmaker Eric Denton received the case from Cartier’s goldsmith workshop Wright & Davis. Then, Denton fitted the watch with a standard LeCoultre number 841 movement. Lastly, Emmerson painstakingly hand painted the dial, however there was an issue with the watch hands’ alignment with the numbers on the irregularly shaped face. As a result, both men had to refit and repaint the watch several times so the hands would line up to tell the correct time.

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Ultimately, Jean-Jacques Cartier found that the design was "too much Carnaby Street" and upon the watch’s delivery, Granger was disappointed and returned the watch for a Tank Oblique. Less than 30 Crash are believed to have been made by Cartier London.

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