The Shapes of Cartier
Cartier, Paris
Ronde à Escalier | New York retailed: A rare and elegant 18ct yellow gold circular wristwatch with stepped bezel, t-bar lugs and gold deployant buckle, Circa 1945
Session begins in
June 15, 02:00 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Dial: silvered dial signed Cartier, black radial Roman numerals, lozenge shaped quarter hour markers, outer chemin-de-fer minute track, blued steel feuilles fortes hands
Caliber: 12¾’’’ cal. 449/2AM Jaeger-LeCoultre movement signed European Watch and Clock Co. Inc., damascened Côtes de Genève decoration, lever escapement, 17 jewels, bi-metallic compensation balance with timing and poising screws, US import code EXU
Movement number: numbered to main plate 336'476
Case: 18k yellow gold circular case, the stepped upper case with smooth flat rim and inset chamfered bezel, t-bar lugs, recessed and integrated octagonal winding crown
Case number: outside case back stamped 93'880 and etch numbered with New York Subsidiary Stock No. 011'177, with French eagle’s head assay mark, Edmond Jaeger punch mark, and 18k, inside case back signed European Watch & Clock Co, Made in France
Closure: 18k gold deployant buckle twice hand stamped 12'286, with French eagle’s head assay marks, Edmond Jaeger punch marks and Morocco import marks
Size: 34.5 mm diameter
Box: no
Papers: no
Jader Barracca, Giampiero Negretti, Franco Nencini, Le Temps de Cartier, Milan: Publiprom, Second Edition, 1993. See p. 254, bottom illustration for a black and white archival image of a Cartier from 1947 with a very similar design aesthetic, although with extended down-turned lugs and a dial with subsidiary seconds.
Cartier’s Ronde à Escalier, introduced in the 1940s, is an extremely elegant model that draws inspiration from the brand’s earlier Ronde à Pattes designs of the 1910s, which featured round cases with prominent lugs. The defining characteristic of the Ronde à Escalier is its stepped bezel, a design element that adds depth and dimension to the circular case while emphasizing the purity of its form. This distinctive feature is complemented by semi-concealed T-bar lugs, subtly integrated into the underside of the upper case. By minimizing the visual presence of traditional lugs and recessing the crown into the case side, Cartier allowed the unbroken circular form of the case to dominate the design.
The Ronde à Escalier can be seen as a precursor to later Cartier models, such as the Vendôme line of the 1980s, reflecting the brand’s ongoing exploration of bold geometric forms.