Fake watches: Attending a horology panel, I was impressed by one answer. Some viewers asked: What kind of watch can be called “classic”? The answer is: it has a history of at least half a century, and it is popular in the long river of time.
Looking at the watchmaking industry today, we often see the words “historical legend”, “epoch-making masterpiece”, “revolutionary milestone” and so on.
Behind these word games, what kind of watch works can be regarded as classics?
If a watch series appeared 50 years ago, the appearance has not changed much after 50 years, and the DNA has been passed down. And the descendants are flourishing, new products have been launched one after another, and they have been affirmed by the market. Only such fake watches can be called classics! It deserves to be a legend! As Chaplin said: “Time is a great author, she can write the ending of the future!”
From this perspective, many watch brands operate one or two classics of their own; but you will find that there is a brand with so many classics that the fingers of two hands can’t finish it, and that is Cartier. In the watch world of Cartier, Santos is a classic, Panthere is a classic, Tank is a classic, Biagnoire is a classic, Tortue is a classic, Crash is a classic… There are still many watch series that are on the way to classics. It really has to be admirable. How did Cartier do it?
To become a classic, there are several important factors. First, dare to be the first, never follow the trend, but lead the fashion. The second is to design brilliantly, because a good design will never be outdated. The third is to insist on quality, meticulous and meticulous in every detail from the inner core to the appearance. The fourth is to introduce the old and bring forth the new, which is always eye-catching, surprising and amazing. We might as well observe from several representative models of Cartier.
The first to appear is Cartier’s Santos watch, which is known as the first mass-produced “watch” in history. It has a history of 118 years since its birth.
You may already be familiar with the story about Santos. In 1901, Alberto Santos Dumont, a pioneering French aviator, successfully flew an aircraft over the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Afterwards, he complained to Cartier that he could not free his hand to take out the pocket watch from his pocket to check the time because both hands were required to control the steering wheel. Cartier had an idea from this, and in 1904 specially made a watch that could be worn on the wrist specially for him, and this watch called Santos was also mass-produced in 1911, thus opening a new era. The age of watches.
In the past 118 years, Santos has been continuously remodeled and upgraded, making subtle adjustments in appearance in response to the different aesthetics of each era. Later, two sub-series were differentiated, one is the Santos Dumont series, which is exactly the same as the original Santos watch, and the Santos de Cartier series has a slightly rougher appearance and a sporty style. But whether it is Santos Dumont or Santos de Cartier, the design of the original prototype has basically not changed much – the four corners of the square bezel. Inspired by the four bases of the Eiffel Tower, the dial features Roman numerals, a square track-track minute marker in the center and a blue sapphire on the crown.
The relatively big change is that the Santos de Cartier series has added a crown guard bridge, and the square bezel and 8 screws have become thicker.
After more than 100 years, the Santos series still retains the original distinctive design features. And not only Santos perfect replica watches, Cartier’s contemporary watches still retain these elements in Tank, Ballon, Tortue, Tonneau, Ronde, and Drive, which shows that classics are classics, and good designs will never go out of style.
However, retaining the traditional design elements does not mean that Cartier will stick to the rules and be complacent. On the contrary, in terms of movement, material, function, and color matching, the Santos series keeps advancing with the times, bringing different surprises to consumers of different generations, and making consumers of different generations continue to pay for it. If such a watch is not a classic, what kind of watch can be called a classic? Especially in recent years, Cartier has brought a very powerful and practical technology to many of its fake watches, that is, you can quickly replace the chain or belt by yourself without tools. Even its steel chain can be shortened or lengthened without tools, which saves the wearer a lot of trouble,
saves worry, and can easily switch between different wearing styles and wearing occasions.
Among Cartier’s many series, there is another series that just celebrated its 100th birthday 5 years ago, and that is the Tank series that everyone knows and everyone knows.
Launched in 1917, this series was inspired by the tracks of heavy armored tanks that appeared on the battlefield of World War I at that time. Lines like tank tracks were added to both sides of the rectangular case,
and the length was extended to form lugs, which changed the rounded curves that were popular at the time,
and strengthened the connection between the lugs and the case.
For more than 100 years, Tank has also produced many different styles of watches-the lugs are slightly rounded,
the case is slightly curved, the crown has a protective device,
and the shape of the case is elongated as a whole… Coupled with different materials, functions, colors, patterns, and sizes, they remain the same. Radial Roman numerals, blue steel hands, orbital minute scales, crawler-like vertical lugs,
and cabochon sapphires on the crown, these classic details are completely preserved.
The preservation of these traditional elements with a history of hundreds of years makes Cartier’s fake watches highly recognizable, which is very valuable.
Because the watches on the market are sometimes really blurry. After the logo is covered, you don’t know which brand it is from, but Cartier can always make you recognize it at a glance.
In the past two years, the Tank series has become more familiar with the walk between tradition and innovation. In terms of tradition, it borrowed inspiration from the models of the Tank series in the 1970s and 1980s,
and played the game of color and pattern perfectly. And in terms of innovation, solar dials and non-animal material straps have been replaced for some models,
making the entire Tank family look new and more diverse.
As a “master of modeling”, Cartier is definitely an expert in shell shapes,
and almost any geometric pattern can be found in the brand’s series of Luxury Fake Watches. And most of these patterns appeared more than 100 years ago. Rectangular Santos, rectangular Tank, round Ronde, oval Baignoire, barrel-shaped Tonneau, tortoise-shaped Tortue, bell-shaped Cloche… And in the second half of the 20th century, circles with squares appeared one after another. Pasha, a Ballon with a circle in it, a pillow-shaped Drive, a hexagonal Maillon, or even a completely irregular Crash.
If you are a player who refuses to follow the crowd and follow others, and wants to have a watch with a distinctive personality, then Pasha de Cariter is definitely worth buying.
Although Pasha de Cariter, born in 1985, is extremely young compared to Santos and Tank. But you must know that its prototype watch is a watch from 1943-in order to prevent accidental collisions,
a fence grid is added to the front of the case,
and a chain is used to buckle the screw-in crown inlaid with blue gemstones on the side. Rare center lugs. These designs were avant-garde, bold and unique at the time, breaking the dullness of the traditional watchmaking world. It was only reappeared in 1985 as a complete series. From this point of view, it is also a watch with a history of more than half a century.
Although the more mainstream round case is used, Pasha’s design vocabulary is very unique,
even among Cartier’s many watches, it is also unique. If we say that the Santos and Tank series represent suave and elegant gentlemen, they are graceful ladies. Then Pasha is a new generation of people who are unruly and unwilling to take the usual path.
How special is it? First of all, it has a square in a circle, which has the philosophical meaning of “the sky is round and the earth” in Chinese. Unlike most Cartier fake watches, the time scale abandons Roman numerals and replaces them with 4 eye-catching Arabic numerals. In particular, its upper and lower horizontal bar lugs connected to the strap or bracelet are decorated with protruding square studs on the left and right. The crown cover decorated with raised gemstones is fixed to the case by a short chain.
When the time or date needs to be adjusted, the crown cover must be opened first. On the one hand, it has a decorative effect, and on the other hand, it can protect the crown.
In 2020, the Pasha de Cartier series will return in a big way,
bringing a variety of new products for three consecutive years. While these new products continue the characteristics of the 1985 or even 1943 models, they also bring many novel designs. These designs are particularly “personalized”, allowing the watch to do what you want. This manifests itself in several ways:
First, open the screw-in crown cover fixed to the case by a short chain. The crown is set with a blue spinel or sapphire. The case next to the crown can be engraved with the initials of the wearer,
which will only be revealed when the crown cover is unscrewed. This is like tattooing a hidden part of a watch, which is especially commemorative. In addition, like the aforementioned Santos watch, the quick replacement system for the strap developed by Cartier allows the wearer to easily replace various styles of straps or bracelets by themselves. The metal bracelet adjustment system can also easily adjust the length of the metal bracelet without tools, which fits the wrist better.
Engraving initials, changing straps, and adjusting the length of the strap, these details are really thoughtful. Let the watch and the wearer really have a relationship, interact, make it more personalized, and wear it more comfortably.
After 50 years or even hundreds of years, it has continuously radiated new vitality in the long river of time,
and it will also lead the contemporary wearer back to that beautiful era. Although the times have passed 50 or 100 years, fake watches have closely connected us with the long history and inheritance. Perhaps this is the most precious treasure of time-this is the power of classics.
