Jamie & Zach share their top 5 Cartier novelties of Watches and Wonders 2025
Time+TideIn the video below, Jamie and Zach share what they believe were the top 5 Cartier watch releases of Watches and Wonders 2025. To keep things even, and knowing they were both in sound agreement, one particular Cartier was a must-have in the top 5 – a shared pick. This left two picks each for the Time+Tide editors, and it turns out Jamie favoured two Tank watches while Zach lusted after two Santos-Dumont watches. Let’s hear it from the lads themselves about why they picked what they did, in no particular order.
Jamie’s first pick: Cartier Tank Louis Cartier Automatic
While I think there’s something inextricably romantic and elegant about a hand-wound watch – especially a Cartier Tank – there’s no denying that automatic watches are more practical for day-to-day use. Up until now, the Tank Louis Cartier range has only ever been available with hand-wound movements, but in Geneva, Cartier presented a stylish new automatic Tank LC powered by the in-house 1899 MC calibre, which first appeared in the Tank Américaine LM, housing it in yellow or rose gold and pairing it with an attractive flinqué dial.
This is an exciting Tank LC for many reasons. I see it as a sort of ideal daily wearer… Well, as much as a solid gold Cartier can be a daily wearer! I have big wrists, so its large-for-Cartier 38.1mm lug-to-lug measurement doesn’t scare me off – however, unlike many automatic Tanks of years gone by, it lacks an ungainly ‘bubble back’, making it sit much nicer on one’s wrist. The flinqué dial texture is also quite appealing, and helps differentiate it visually from other Tanks.
Zach’s first pick: Cartier Santos-Dumont Skeleton Micro-Rotor steel with black lacquered case
It is no secret I love a lacquered Cartier. I instantly fell in love with the beige-lacquered Santos Dumont limited edition the moment I saw it at Watches and Wonders 2022, and I somehow managed to squirrel my way into getting an allocation. While the beige beaut will always be numero uno when it comes to lacquered Cartier watches (for me at least), this year, a very compelling and lacquered development entered the fold with a new stainless steel Santos-Dumont Skeleton Micro-Rotor that has a case that is accentuated with black lacquer. The format is somewhat familiar, as, amongst the original trio that included the beige-lacquer model I personally own, a stainless steel option, with a black lacquered dial and case, was the most price-approachable at retail and the only model that was not a limited edition. However, that did not necessarily mean it was very accessible in terms of obtaining an allocation.
Rumour has it that this original, standard two-handed, steel Santos-Dumont with a black lacquered dial and case has been recently discontinued, and this more elaborate Santos-Dumont Skeleton Micro-Rotor has taken its place. Instead of a solid dial and 430 MC movement, the Skeleton Micro-Rotor, as its name suggests, ups the ante with a very openworked calibre that is visible from both sides. Within the thin bridges of the movement, channels within these metallic lines are filled with black lacquer. The micro-rotor itself is a handsome tribute to the collection’s namesake, executed in the form of Dumont’s famed Demoiselle aircraft. It is a very slick Santos that will look sick with a plain white tee or a full-on suit.
Jamie’s second pick: Cartier Tank Louis Cartier platinum laser-engraved
With so much attention focused on other Tanks in Geneva, these more understated, manual-winding Tank LCs slipped under the radar a little bit. Featuring minimal dials with a radial laser-engraved pattern that has beautiful light play, I feel as if they really emphasise the Tank’s brilliance as a design object. The platinum-cased grey model is particularly hot, in my opinion – it just screams stealth wealth, with only that tell-tale red cabochon giving away its luxurious case material.
Zach’s second pick: Cartier Santos-Dumont 18k yellow gold with wood motif dial
Monochromatic aesthetics have become the not-so-quiet trend of the watch industry, or, rather, a design style the watch marketplace has clearly begun to favour more and more. Whether the new full pink gold Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso on a mesh bracelet, the original Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222 in yellow gold, or both iterations of the Piaget Polo 79, a cohesive, consistent colour scheme appears to be a strong strategy to entice watch buyers as of late. This Santos-Dumont was a sleeper hit of the fair amongst all of the press in attendance, with its yellow gold case and near colour-matching dial a total vibe.
Looking closer, however, a romantic story translates into a very attractive, dynamic, and richly textured dial. Though not made of wood, Cartier has executed a twist on the all too familiar sunburst dial with a wood-motif dial that seemingly splinters and bursts out from the centre of the hours and minutes hands. The wood motif takes inspiration from the wood found on Santos-Dumont’s aircraft, again, making for a lovely tribute to the man who commissioned the world’s first-ever pilot’s watch from Cartier in 1904 and leaving us all with the Santos-Dumont collection we know and love today. We constantly say you need to see watches ‘in the metal’ to get them, and this is definitely one of them. In person, the dial is gorgeous, especially as you manipulate it under light.
Shared pick: Cartier Privé Tank á Guichets
The moment we saw them, we knew the new Cartier Privé Tank à Guichets collection was going to stir a frenzy. Originally born in 1928, long ahead of the mechanical watch with a digital display trend, the Cartier Tank à Guichet foregoes a traditional dial and hands in favour of two small apertures that digitally spell out the time. Its design stemmed from the changing landscape of the late 1920s, in which the rise of trains and cars became an everyday reality – its digital time telling meant to afford a quicker means of reading the time to a world that was beginning to move faster at large.
With Cartier Tank à Guichet watches from the 1920s and 1930s practically impossible to find, and modern revivals quite rare as well, at a time when Cartier is absolutely red hot, regardless of whether or not a seemingly simple hours and minutes watch at this luxury price point piques your fancy, it will be near impossible for anyone outside the scope of Cartier VIPs to score one of these watches and if/when they hit the secoondary market your jaw will likely drop at the market-driving premium.