This early, larger sized Must de Cartier has the mechanical movement and is the model people want the most.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
The Must de Cartier mechanical watches were the earlier ones, and they introduced quartz movements in 1982. Our 1978 estimate is based on that, plus quite a low serial number.
CONDITION
In the mid seventies the management team at Cartier were facing two major issues. People were buying quartz watches, which were both cheaper to make and more accurate, and the price of gold had trebled. This meant producing there mainly manual wind gold cased watches was both very expensive and out of fashion, all at the same time. So in 1977 they launched the Les Must de Cartier range, deliberately targeting a wider market at a cheaper price point. Not only did the use ETA mechanical movements, rebranded Cartier 78-1, to keep the costs down, then later using their in house quartz movements, but they also made the cases from gold plated silver (also known as Vermeil) rather than solid gold. It was a huge sales success. So much so that there is now a new version, called Cartier Must, available from £2,360 with a quartz movement.
The movement is working well, and this may be due to a recent service – the Cartier service sticker on the caseback is the only evidence of any service that may have taken place, so we can not rely on that 100%. The case is overall good, with just some chipping of the gold plate on the lugs. The leather strap is new, chosen to match the dial. The dial and hands are excellent, and the glass scratch free. While this is the larger case size of the model it is still small by current tastes. The case back is held in place by the four screws on the sides, none of which are damaged. The cabachon stone set in the crown is not chipped in any way.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 26.2 mm
Width without crown 23.3 mm
Between lugs 17 mm
Lug to lug length 30.5 mm
Case Thickness 6.3 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
