HANDS-ON: Masculinity meets romance in the Drive de Cartier Moon Phases

Felix Scholz

In our recently published interview, Arnaud Carrez, Cartier’s Head of Marketing and Communications, said that the Drive represents a different kind of masculinity, one that isn’t defined by “muscles, sport, achievement, performance”, but by “elegance, and style, and refinement.” Looking at the Drive de Cartier Moon Phases, you can see what he means. It’s a confident watch that takes the dressy Drive design and, by adding the eternally romantic moon phase at six, elevates it to the next level of elegance.

Introduced at SIHH in stainless steel and pink gold, the Drive Moon Phases took a bit of a back seat to the critically acclaimed Extra Flat, but for me the Moon Phases is the perfect embodiment of what Drive is all about. In gold, it’s a very warm, dressy watch, with a dial full of detail that is pure Cartier.

On the technical side, the watch is the same size as the regular Drive at 41mm across and a wearable 12.15mm high. It’s powered by the newly developed in-house 1904-LU. This complication is highly accurate, and only needs to be adjusted every 125 years, which is nice. Power reserve is decent but not outstanding at 48 hours.

The moon phase complication is perfectly on-brand for Cartier, and it looks sublime on the Drive. My only gripe is the overly prominent ‘automatic’ text on the dial. This minor issue aside, the Drive de Cartier Moon Phase is perhaps my favourite in the rapidly expanding family.

Cartier Drive de Cartier Moon Phases Australian pricing

Drive de Cartier Moon Phases in pink gold, $19,500 ex. GST