Cartier, London

Designed alongside some of Cartier London’s most iconic models – including the Crash, Maxi Oval, Decagonal, and Pebble – the Maxi Ronde stands apart as a deliberate contrast to their avant garde forms.

While those watches explore asymmetry, distortion, and bold exaggeration of shape, the Maxi Ronde embraces a different kind of exaggeration – purity of form and absolute symmetry. Its perfectly circular case with slim bezel and enlarged dial amplify its presence, while the elongated Roman numerals stretching toward the edge further enhance the sense of expansion.

Rather than exploring distortion or abstraction, the Maxi Ronde pushes the limits of balance and proportion, proving that radical design can also lie in clarity and refinement. This purity of form is further emphasized by its Vendôme-style T-bar lugs, affixed to the case back, allowing the unbroken circular shape to remain visually uninterrupted.

Used across other Cartier London creations of the era, these lugs cleverly allowed case shapes to dominate, creating the illusion that they float effortlessly on their leather straps. Despite its restraint, the Maxi Ronde is undeniably bold.

Larger than most dress watches of the era, its slender bezel maximizes the dial’s prominence, making it feel even more expansive on the wrist. The subtle interplay of proportion and detail creates a watch that is at once understated yet striking, a harmonious counterbalance to the more experimental creations of Cartier London during this highly creative period.