Anyway, the point of this story is that my old faithful Past Times watch was pronounced dead, so I came home and began to trawl eBay for a replacement. (I'm ashamed to admit I had been trawling for at least half an hour before I realised the hilariousness of adding items to my 'watch list'...) I found a few possibles (although I have been having terrible luck with online shopping lately!) but time and time again my eye was drawn to particularly lovely antique watches that all had two things in common - they all cost colossal numbers of pounds and they all featured the name of a certain Monsieur Cartier...
I'm not sure what it is about them that appeals to me, but I love them all! I hope you enjoyed the chronograph picspam as much as I did, but now onto more sparkly matters.
A quick Google search gave me a little info about the Cartier brand, and I learned all about the iconic Cartier panther; originally designed in 1914, it became world-famous when it appeared on a series of jewels made for (who else?) Wallis Simpson.
The onyx-and-diamond creature broke world records when auctioned at Sotheby's in 2010 - at £4,521,250 it fetched the highest price of any bracelet ever!
Even though it reminds me of when my mum was a Cabouchon rep in the 1990s, I like the panther - it's like something Mrs Cheveley would wear. Hers was a snake, but panthers are more glamorous. Grrr.
This brooch was also made for the Duchess.
The panther has been seen in numerous glittering forms since Wallis' time, and last year it turned its paw to the silver screen, appearing as the star of L'Odyssée de Cartier, an extravagant short film made to comemmorate the 165th anniversary of Maison Cartier.
Watch it, it's a little bit amazing!
Yours covetously,
Bette
x
