When one thinks of a watch, there is a good chance the image that comes to mind is that of a round case. In the collective imagination, a watch is round, it simply seems natural. For centuries, this form has prevailed as both a technical and aesthetic standard: a circular movement housed within a circular case. Yet at the beginning of the twentieth century, one brand chose to challenge this convention and offer a completely new vision of time. With the unveiling of the Santos in 1904, Louis Cartier propelled his Maison into a new dimension and set it on a path it would never abandon: a watch is born not from a mechanism, but from a design. At Cartier, design becomes the starting point of every creation, while technique and innovation serve this formal vision. This philosophy not only distinguished the Maison within the watchmaking landscape, but also gave it the momentum to develop, over the decades, a genuine aesthetic language in which the square, rectangle, oval and even asymmetry, became powerful forms of expression. The exploration of the so-called “shaped” watch has thus become one of Cartier’s most distinctive creative signatures.
Santos: where It All Began
At the beginning of the twentieth century, watchmaking was still largely dominated by the pocket watch. Both dial and movement were round, and the wristwatch remained marginal. It was in this context that Louis Cartier, in 1904, imagined a timepiece designed to meet a very practical request from the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont. He wanted to be able to read the time without releasing the controls of his aircraft. Cartier therefore created for him a square watch to be worn on the wrist. With its sharp angles, visible screws and highly legible dial, the Santos introduced a new aesthetic that stood apart from the watchmaking conventions of the time. It laid the foundations for a creative philosophy that would permanently shape Cartier watchmaking: one in which form becomes the starting point of the watch. The useful thus becomes beautiful, functionality transforms into an aesthetic signature, and the watch evolves from a practical instrument into a true object of style.
More than a century after its creation, the Santos remains one of Cartier’s most emblematic models. Its instantly recognizable design has passed through the decades without ever betraying its identity or losing its modernity. The successive evolutions of the collection demonstrate this capacity to reinvent itself while remaining faithful to its original spirit. A titanium version has recently appeared, exploring a more contemporary and technical register with an ultra-light material. Its microblasted matte finish and uniform anthracite tone give this new Santos an almost industrial character, an unexpected interpretation of the iconic model.
Tank, the iconic rectangle
If the Santos marks the founding moment of shaped watches at Cartier, the Tank is undoubtedly its most accomplished expression. When Louis Cartier designed this model in 1917, he drew inspiration from the silhouette of the tanks used during the First World War. From this reference emerged a radically new graphic principle: the case’s brancards extend seamlessly from the bracelet, without any visual break. A seemingly simple idea, yet one that profoundly transformed the watch’s silhouette. The brancards structure the design, the dial fits within a perfectly balanced rectangle, and the aesthetic codes - Roman numerals, railway minute track and sword-shaped hands - reinforce an identity that is instantly recognizable. Tank Cintrée, Tank Américaine and Tank Louis Cartier: over time, the Tank has revealed many faces and become an icon, appearing on the wrists of Lady Di, Jackie Kennedy, Yves Saint Laurent and Alain Delon.
It is also worth recalling that in 1928 Cartier even removed its traditional dial in favor of a single volume: a Tank stripped of its hands, retaining only two apertures, one for the hours and one for the minutes. A jumping mechanism for the hours and a trailing display for the minutes: purity becomes a statement of modernity. This marked the birth of the Tank à Guichets. With its crown at twelve o’clock and millimeter-perfect proportions, along with a platinum version featuring oblique apertures produced in a limited edition of 200 pieces, Cartier made a sensation last year by reintroducing the Tank à Guichets with almost insolent fidelity within its “Privé” collection.
Crash, the provocation
After the architectural rigor of the Tank, Cartier pushed its exploration of shapes even further. With the Crash, the Maison allowed itself a true aesthetic rupture. The watch first appeared in 1967 at the Cartier boutique on New Bond Street in London, in the midst of Swinging London. The period was marked by experimentation, a questioning of conventions, and a wave of creative energy that influenced music, fashion and design alike. It was within this cultural climate that Cartier introduced a completely unexpected model. According to legend, a client once brought a damaged watch to the boutique, its case distorted into a strange, irregular form. Intrigued by this improbable silhouette, Jean-Jacques Cartier is said to have decided to reproduce it exactly as it was. Whether entirely true or partly embellished, the story captures the spirit of the Crash perfectly: a watch born from a bold and irreverent idea.
Its asymmetrical dial appears almost to melt like a surreal object, evoking the soft watches associated with Salvador Dalí. The Roman numerals follow this improbable distortion, reinforcing the impression of movement frozen in time. The entire design challenges the most fundamental conventions of watchmaking. Where most watches pursue balance and symmetry, the Crash embraces a deliberately unstable form. Produced in very limited numbers, it has established itself as one of the most coveted pieces in Cartier’s repertoire. With this model, the Maison demonstrated that the shaped watch could move beyond simple geometric variation and venture into the realm of asymmetry.
Baignoire, the signature oval
With the Baignoire, Cartier explores another formal path, that of the oval, offering a softer and more sensual silhouette that brings watchmaking closer to the world of jewelry. First appearing in 1912, this watch has, over time and through its many variations, developed a distinctive identity to become one of the emblematic creations of the Cartier repertoire. Unlike the Santos and the Tank, which rely on sharp lines, the Baignoire, whose name evokes the elegant curve that defines it, plays on fluidity, with an oval case designed to naturally follow the curve of the wrist.
Since its creation, the Baignoire has inspired numerous interpretations, playing both with proportions and with its ability to evolve into jewelry versions. In its contemporary iterations, the iconic oval has sometimes served as the canvas for a true demonstration of Cartier’s jewelry expertise, with diamond pavé settings or arrangements of colored stones further enhancing the ultra-feminine character of the watch. In 2022, it left behind the leather strap to appear on a bangle, giving it an entirely new aura. Since then, Cartier has continued to explore combinations of diamonds and gold, and the Baignoire has become a true bracelet watch, one that invites stacking on the wrist with a Love, a Clou, or any other bangle.
Tressage, the sculpture
The Tressage, introduced last year, shows that Cartier’s exploration of shapes is not only rooted in its history but remains a fully active source of creativity today. Here, the Maison pushes this research into form toward a more sculptural dimension. The watch is distinguished by two twists of gold and diamonds that frame a rectangular dial, giving the piece an unexpected sense of volume. With this creation, Cartier deliberately blurs the line between watchmaking and jewelry: it is certainly a timepiece, but above all a jewel in which form and material interact. The contrasts of texture, between gold, diamonds, the lacquered dial (in the black version), and the leather strap, enhance this impression of depth and movement. The watch seems to be built around a play of opposites: curves and straight lines, volume and surface, the brilliance of stones and the depth of materials.
This approach reflects one of the constants of Cartier’s style: transforming watchmaking constraints into a field for aesthetic experimentation. As Marie-Laure Cérède, Director of Jewelry and Watchmaking Creation at the Maison, explains: “Tressage perfectly illustrates Cartier’s jewelry expertise applied to watchmaking; it is not simply a jewel that tells the time. For this creation, we exaggerated and amplified the classic attributes of a watch. By enlarging and extending the brancards, we designed a voluptuous twist in volume. Neither a bangle nor a leather strap, Tressage continues to explore this atypical and unique territory so dear to Cartier, watches of a third kind, a true fusion between watchmaking and jewelry.”
Since the Santos of 1904, Cartier has continuously explored the possibilities offered by shaped watches. From the founding square of the Santos and the rigorous rectangle of the Tank to the bold asymmetry of the Crash, the sensual oval of the Baignoire, and the sculptural volumes of the Tressage, all these silhouettes reflect the same philosophy inherited from Louis Cartier. A watchmaking signature that the Parisian Maison masters like no other, and one that never ceases to surprise.
