Quote:
Originally Posted by MELLOWYELLOW06
I like the Mont Blanc
I think Cartier has a chronograph Pasha
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Cartier has several chronos and every one of them is at least good looking, if not very good looking, to me. Unfortunately, the OP said he wanted an in-house watch, and presumably a chronograph, so for now, that rules out everything from Cartier except the Caliber de Cartier line and the Tank MC line, but AFAIK, there's no tank in the Tank MC line.
Another reason I suggested the CdC chrono is because I feel that model of Cartier's lineup looks better as a chrono than it does as a plain watch. It's one of the very few on the planet, much less from Cartier, that I feel that way about.
If I can put on my subjective and biased art student's hat for a moment, I'll tell you why I think the chrono looks better, but just be aware this is just how my eye sees it. I don't think anyone needs to agree or disagree with this.
When I look at the simple version, and I haven't yet looked at the chrono, I like it. It looks nice, but it's neither the best nor worst looking watch or Cartier watch I've ever seen. I don't have any real issue with buying it either. Then I look at the chrono version and I think it looks nice too. After that, I start comparing them and that's when the simple one loses it's appeal, but yes, I do still like it, just not as much as I did before I started comparing it to the chrono.
So what turned my mind?
- Dial
- Clutter: the dial on the crhono has less "stuff" on it. It's just cleaner looking. Does the simple version of this watch really need the minute chapter ring ? Aren't the hours enough? If they are required, why not put the around the bezel as seen on the chrono? On the chrono the minutes are subtle and don't interfere with the crispness of the dial proper; the date ring looks as much like styling detail, sort of like accent lines on cars, as it does the minute markers.
- Hour Numerals: A much greater proportion of the numerals and markers on the chrono aren't "lopped off." I understand that there are sometimes spatial constraints and watchmakers have to borrow some space from the ends of numerals, but most of the time, the less of it they borrow, the better I like the dial.
- The date window. On the simple version, it's over there on the right creating a visual imbalance IMO, although I know it's there to visually echo the profile of the crown guard to the right of it. All the same, I think the watch would have been worlds better without a date.
Now look at the date on the chrono. The aperture is set at six o'clock and it provides the visual weight to counterbalance the 12 opposing it at the top of the dial.
- Case
- Crown Guard: For me, the heft of the crown guard on the simple version is just gratuitous metal sitting there. I can't see one damn reason why they couldn't have just left that thing off and let the crown sit on the side of the case as it does on thousands of watches.
On the chrono the "bulk" of the crown guard is largely due to the need to put pushers on the watch. I don't know if the pushers needed to be as large as they are, but that is what it is; they put big pushers over there; so be it. They don't look bad, in fact they look nice, so it doesn't matter if they needed to be that big.
Having discussed both watches' design, I'll now say what would have made no sense to say before. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that Cartier designed the chrono before they designed the simple watch. I think after they had the chrono design signed off on, they then went about figuring out how to make a simple watch out of the chrono design. I think what then happened is that they chose the most cost effective ways to "make it work" and the result is what we see.
Now I could be totally wrong, and it wouldn't bother me to be wrong. The fact remains that I like the simple one just fine as long as I don't have to look at it next to the chrono one. On my wrist that's no problem and that's why I could enjoy wearing it. Now if some CdC chrono wearing sucker sits down next to me while I'm wearing the simple version, one of us has to move to the other side of the table.
One thing to keep in mind: if you think you want any Cartier CdC watch, hurry up and buy it. Last year that simple one had an MSRP of about $6K, now it's $7400. People are starting to realize that that watch is a very nicely made one and they are buying them, so the price is rising as fast as Cartier think they can get away with. The simple one can still be had from a GMS for about $5900 or so, but you now what I'm saying.
By contrast, the MB is still hobbled, price wise, by it's being a watch from a company that's better know as a pen maker. Sometimes watch snobbery can be used to one's financial benefit. <wink>
All the best.
