World Record $1.65M USD Paid For Vintage Cartier Crash
Prices for vintage Cartier continue to climb.
Online watch auction platform Loupe This has set a world record for a vintage Cartier Crash, selling a 1967 example for more than $1.5M USD.
Bidding rose from $50 USD to $1,503,888 USD over the course of seven days, with a final flurry of bids in the last 24 hours adding nearly $1M USD to the price. When the 10% buyer’s premium is added, the watch will cost its new owner $1.65M USD, more than twice the pre-sale upper estimate of $800,000 USD.
The 18K yellow gold watch was described as being in “excellent original condition” with evident surface wear and was sold without reserve. Hallmarks and serial number were present on the case which contains the original Jaeger-LeCoultre-signed Calibre 841 manual wind movement.
The Crash – which was clearly inspired by Salvador Dali’s ‘The Persistence of Memory’ – has a number of outlandish and highly dubious origin stories, including a watch heavily damaged during a car accident.
The previous record stood at $884,972 USD, paid last year at Sotheby’s Geneva for an example from 1970.
In other watch news, Patek Philippe creates titanium piece unique for charity.
