Cartier

Cartier was founded in Paris in 1847, when Louis-François Cartier took over the workshop of his master, Adolphe Picard. Under his grandsons Louis, Pierre and Jacques the house opened in London and New York and became a jeweller to European courts. Its place in watch history begins in 1904 with the Santos, a wristwatch Louis Cartier made for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont; the Tank followed, designed in 1917 and on sale from 1919, and both remain in the catalogue. From 1907 Cartier's movements came under an exclusive contract with Edmond Jaeger, and the house also used calibres from LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet.

The Crash, made in London in 1967, the Panthère of 1983 and the Ballon Bleu of 2007 are the other designs most often cited. Cartier has belonged to Richemont since the group's formation in 1988 and today produces its own movements at a manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, while design and headquarters remain in Paris.