Cartier "Tortue" Platinum & Diamond Watch, ca. 1920
Watch
GUEST:
This is a watch I inherited around 20-some-odd years ago from my uncle. He inherited it from, I believe, one of his clients. He was a financial adviser in New York City, and she left it to him in her will, and then he passed it on to me.
APPRAISER:
And what do you know about it?
GUEST:
I don't know anything, really. It's just a Cartier ladies' watch, I'm assuming 1950s, but I really don't know the year. It's been sitting in a lockbox for the last few years. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Do you ever wear this watch?
GUEST:
I can't get it on-- I wish I could. (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
Okay. You know it's Cartier, it's signed Cartier on the dial. It's a little earlier than what you think it is, though. It's not from the 1950s.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It's 1920s.
GUEST:
The 1920s?
APPRAISER:
Yes.
GUEST:
Oh, wow, it is older.
APPRAISER:
It is older-- Roaring '20s, Art Deco.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
The case is in platinum. I love all the rose-cut diamonds all around it. We can date this around 1920 because of the use of rose-cut diamonds. Not too long after that, they started using single-cut diamonds, and then, much later, they started using full-cut diamonds. It's one of the earliest wristwatches made, so it, it's quite lovely.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
The bracelet on it's not original. That actually looks more like of the style of the 1930s through the 1950s. This originally had a, uh, black grosgrain silk ribbon band on it. Does that affect the value? Not particularly on this watch. On some watches, it could greatly affect it, but on this one, it had a ribbon bracelet, so that could be put back on. The value is in what we call the head of the watch, which is without the band or without the bracelets. The piece, though, itself has French platinum hallmarks on it. So this, this came from Cartier in Paris.
GUEST:
Oh, nice.
APPRAISER:
It's, it's, it's a French piece. What do you think of the shape of it?
GUEST:
I like it.
APPRAISER:
It's called the tortue, which in French is a turtle.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
And so it looked a little like a turtle, they thought. There's a lot of interest now in Cartier watches. Did you have an idea of the value on this piece?
GUEST:
Um, my daughter and I were talking, and we thought around $5,000 to $10,000?
APPRAISER:
$5,000 to $10,000 was probably the correct valuation about 15 years ago.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
But right now, I see this at $20,000 to $25,000.
GUEST:
Oh! Very nice! Oh! I like that! Very nice!
Appraisal Details
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