Cloche de Cartier

The Bell That Became a Watch

The Cloche appeared in 1920 as a brooch watch — a piece of jewelry first, a timepiece second. Its asymmetric case, shaped like a service bell, was designed to be pinned to clothing and lifted to read the time. The XII numeral sits adjacent to the crown rather than at the top of the dial, because the wearer would rotate the bell upward to check the hour — a reading orientation that makes the Cloche instantly recognizable and frequently misunderstood by those encountering it for the first time.

By 1922, Cartier had adapted the form into a wristwatch, maintaining the rotated dial orientation as a deliberate design signature rather than correcting it to conventional wrist-reading position. This decision — prioritizing the design's history over ergonomic convention — established the Cloche as one of Cartier's most uncompromising creations.

A Form Between Sculpture and Horology

The Cloche's bell silhouette has no parallel in Cartier's catalog or in watchmaking more broadly. The case widens from a narrow base to a curved dome, with the crown positioned at the widest point. Early twentieth-century examples in platinum featured diamond-set bezels and were produced in quantities so small that surviving originals are museum-grade rarities — one of very few documented examples has been offered at well over $200,000.

Unlike the Tank or Santos, which evolved through continuous commercial production, the Cloche existed intermittently. After its Art Deco heyday, the model essentially disappeared from Cartier's active catalog for decades. Individual pieces surfaced through special orders, but there was no sustained production line.

The CPCP Chapter

The Cloche's most accessible modern production came through two phases in the 1990s. First, a limited run in the mid-1990s (Ref. 8876 in 18k yellow gold, approximately 200 pieces) reintroduced the form with a manually wound mechanical movement and guilloché dial. Then the Collection Privée Cartier Paris (CPCP) program produced the Ref. 2841 around 2000, limited to 100 pieces in yellow gold, with the Cal. 9770 MC providing 38-hour power reserve. Additional CPCP references in rose gold and platinum followed, each limited to 100 pieces.

These CPCP Cloche references have become among the most sought pieces in the entire CPCP catalog. The combination of Cartier's most distinctive case shape with mechanical movements and extreme production limits has created a collector market where demand consistently exceeds supply.

The Cloche Today

The Cloche occupies a unique position in the vintage Cartier market: it is simultaneously one of the maison's oldest designs (1920) and one of its least available. Collectors drawn to the Cloche tend to be specialists in Cartier's shaped-case history — people who value design audacity over brand recognition. The rotated dial, the asymmetric case, and the brooch-watch heritage make it a conversation piece in the most literal sense: it requires explanation, and the explanation is worth having.