Cartier was founded in 1847 when by Louis-François Cartier. He established Cartier by taking over the workshop of Adolphe Picard, his master. Later in 1874, Louis- François Cartier’s son Alfred Cartier took over the company, but it was controlled mainly by Alfred’s three sons, namely Louis, Pierre and Jacques.
Louis Cartier, the third son of Alfred Cartier, mainly paved the way for Cartier to become a worldwide success. Cartier was mainly focused on jewellery in the beginning. They started making some noise in the wristwatch industry with the release of their first modern Swiss wristwatch in 1906, “The Santos”. Louis Cartier made it for his friend Alberto Santos who was a pilot. Louis was compelled to do so because Santos was complaining about how he cannot use a pocket watch while flying because he needs both his hands to fly his aircraft.
The next most iconic landmark of Cartier watches was the release of the model “The Tank”, which was designed by Louis Cartier in 1919. This watch had a shape similar to that of the tanks introduced to the Western war front in World War 1. Even today, “The Tank” is one of the best-selling watch collections by Cartier.
While closely looking at the history of Cartier, its watches became a symbol of elegance not solely because of their watches, their watches were undoubted of the best quality but what made them stand out in the market was the recognition Cartier got through jewellery. Cartier jewellery became recognized by the most influential people in the top hierarchy. Many Royals such as King Edward VII of England, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia appointed Cartier as their official purveyor.
Over the years, Cartier has released a diverse array of stylish watches, such as The Ballon Bleu, Pasha, Roadster and so forth, which caught the hearts of many Chrono-enthusiasts across the globe.
The Cartier family has owned the company since 1964, and today Cartier is owned by the Richemont Group. Cartier is currently valued at 12.4 Billion USD.
