Other then the date window which ruins a beautiful watch.this is the sort of watch I could learn to love ,and I'm not a lover of Cartier watches.
Gosh, I would so love to love this - 42mm, lovely Mille style bezel, in house movement...
http://www.watchtime.com/wristwatch-...cartier-diver/
...but that bloody date window is a disgrace! Not even a sympathetic font and it completely mucks up the symmetry.
simon
Other then the date window which ruins a beautiful watch.this is the sort of watch I could learn to love ,and I'm not a lover of Cartier watches.
Yep, like the watch but.....that date window does ruin it (to be honest that type of date window ruins any watch). Oh and i'd also like to see it on a bracelet.
The first genuine desk divers watch.
Does this come with a bracelet?
Something about that I really like.
I see can see where people are coming from with regard to the date window, but it doesn't look nearly as bad as some brands' approach to the date window...
I also like that its a genuine 300m diver, with the expected bezel type, but retains the numerals and styling of its stablemates - embracing the fact that, chances are, the deepest dive it will be doing is when its owner puts something in the waste paper bin.
Im not quite yet in life financially at the point where I can indulge myself to the point of buying a watch like that - my decisions have to be pretty thought-out to justify the price of an item and there are watches I want and like the look of more, so I tend to play it safe - but if I was, Id take a punt at that one
Don't mind the date too much but not sure on the bezel font/style compared with the dial
Design over function - and the date window is for me the least of it's identity crisis issues. I'd be embarrassed to wear it, more so to have to call it a diver.
Gray
Looks decent, all right... but, hmmm, wouldn't call it a diver.
I cannot deal with a triple date window :(
It's just a matter of time...
Apparently, it was made to ISO spec for a divers watch. There's a write up on Hodinkee about it including some in the flesh pics which don't look anywhere near as nice (IMHO)
http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/pre-sih...e-pics-details
I like Cartier watches. I really do. But this one has too many fonts going on thats its rather jarring and ruins the aesthetic. Pity as it had real potential!
The in the flesh pics look fine, right up until the until the wristshot - where the apparent size of the thing is forcing me to issue a retraction of my previous enthusings...
Edit - grr! don't know why but, I still think it has merit - maybe just because its not the usual "hand blender, fondue set, cuddly toy" lineup member that we see on here almost every day.
Last edited by Umbongo; 7th January 2014 at 21:55.
Thanks for the link, mate.
Well, after all these pictures, I can't say I like it. Too many things I cannot deal with.
Largely agree with the other comments. Although i'm not really a fan of Cartier design in general, I do like that, but there are a couple of tiny issues that mean I would always choose something else - especially the extra-large XII (I know it's part of the brand design, but still).
too dressy for me,too busy for sure.?......
I have to say there's pretty much nothing I like in this one. Triple-date (never understood the purpose), oversized roman numerals only on half of the dial, seconds sub-dial in a "tool watch", ghastly crown not in sync with the rest of the design etc., even the caseback is somehow wrong. I do like some Cartiers, but not his one.
Ok, one exeption: The lume shot is somehow cool
Do I like it; yes.
Would I buy it; no.
Reminds me of a Breguet Marine. Somebody asked what a 'dressy diver' was on another thread, I think we have our answer...
Words fail me..............
Design all over the place, to call this a diver????
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
Not my cuppa and the XII is also way oversized.
“Don’t look back, you’re not heading that way.”
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
I think the standard Calibre in SS on a bracelet is very lovely indeed and it's certainly a watch that I aspire to own at some point. Don't really get why anyone would be interested in this diver version, however. Neither fish nor fowl in my book. Cartier do have the occasional mad moment - looks like this is another one of them.
SGR (in Monaco, not on a yacht, drinking Prosecco. Well, it is a weekday...)
Come on Daddel. Dive watches are a fashion.
It is just one of MANY 'dive' watches. I don't want to mention ' brand x' but even THEIR mainstay dive theme watches are mostly not about getting wet even in the design.
As about the numeral being legible; some dive watches don't have ANY numerals.
At least they have gone to the trouble of meeting ISO/DIN so you could go scuba with it.
It simply is the perception thing again. The brand makes it more difficult to delude oneself that it is a tool proof of being an adventurous sort of bloke.
Not for me. I think the simpler Cartiers are much more stylish.
If I was a dive master and you showed up on the dock wearing this, I wouldn't let you on my boat. If anything were to happen to the watch, you'd be pissing and moaning the rest of the afternoon, ruining the dive for everybody else. Of course, there's a snowball's chance in hell anyone with a dive certification would actually buy this watch and try to take it on a dive. There are so many other more practical choices. This reminds me of customized pick up trucks - so tarted up that they would never be used by their owners for the purpose for which they were purportedly designed.
You are missing a crucial point: Luxury dive watches are not designed to be used as dive watches. Allthough quality made and quite capable for that use their intended purpose is to advertise an image for a landdweller.
Just like the customised trucks are.
Btw; what do you tell the wearer of a JLC Seal, Rolex LV, IWC Cousteau or 18k BP FF?
Can't stand Cartier or any fashion house tat
Can't stand roman numerals on watches
For that reason...I'm out
Going to buck the trend and say I quite like that and the date wheel doesnt bother me really. I do agree with the comment above though, the bezel font somehow doesn't seem to work with the rest of the dial.
I'm not dismissing their history, and you're right...I currently 'don't know much about watches' and as someone who 'doesn't know much about watches' I only know Cartier by it's reputation outside of people who 'do know lots about watches' which is not so 'iconic' to people who have any modicum of taste
Cheers
Have seen worse. The triple date window is as pointless as it is on the new IWC offerings. Perhaps for those who are unable to count to thirty-one unaided.
Nice except for the stupid triple date. About time they were outlawed. Yet to see someone who likes the triple date thingy!
May not be a practical watch for diving but wouldnt prevent me from considering it if it wasnt for the triple date.
Some as usual are objecting a little too much.
Not every purchase has to be a Seiko FFS!
Sure, I get that, no need to educate me on that, but thanks. I just think it might be more admirable to build the best watch possible to suit the purported purpose. Not just glomming up up a watch with gold or platinum or (heaven forbid) precious stones... and to addres the design problems that need to be answered to perform the tasks at hand (diving). A crown guard that leaves half the crown exposed seems like a poor design. Ditto a non-lumed second hand and bezel.
I'll leave it to others to defend the other watches you mentioned. I'm at work now.
Why is a luxury diver an oxymoron? Its pretty rare to lose a watch while diving. And if it gets lost - hey its insured. no big deal.
Actually I took the ISO certification at face value. Without a bezel pip there's no way to measure elapsed time and without a lumed second hand there's no way to indicate the watch is running. So the ISO certification doesn't seem particularly useful sadly. I had thought it was...
It sure is usefull for a scuba diving watch to be able to see the seconds hand moving as a check, but for rebreather diving there is no dive bezel needed and those watches don´t even need the seconds hand.
It simpy is mainly fashion.
As to oxymoron there is a clash between a tool for diving and luxury although the two are not mutually exclusive; hobby diving is after all a luxury too.
As to this Cartier and other luxury divers I cannot see why thís one should be banned from a dive boat and other not. Imo this Cartier is sure to be just as well up to the job as any more accepted dive watch rated to the same depth.
Neither do I see any difference in damage control as all are luxury good priced and as was commented will all be equally covered by insurance.
This is no more no less of a luxury dive watch than a long list of popular models and it is imo very strange that because it is a ´Cartier´ it is frowned upon.
I think it quite appropriate. The Santos is the one for going UP, this the one for going down.
Well they could have done without too.
Remember the watch ´Bond´ made famous?
The crown guard is a bit of a questionable feature imo.
With the exception of the Panerai CG, I am not sure if they are worth the added fiddlyness. Cértainly not for a luxury dive watch (of any brand) which is véry likely to never ever get wet.
CCR is still a fairly small part of the diving scene so its a bit of an irrelevant point.
I suppose we could reduce all our possessions to bare utility a la Thoreau in Walden suggesting that clithes are only for warmth and preserving modesty but wheres the fun in that?!
Well, you're missing my point. As an analogy, I used to work in construction and when a new guy showed up on the jobsite you would usually make some judgements about the guy based on the condition of his tools. New, shiny tools: guy probably has no experience and will be a major pain in the a$$ for several weeks. Old, beat up tools: guy has been around and will be a welcome addition to the crew.
Now, no rule works 100% of the time, and I'm not really talking about the newness of the watch in this case, but rather whether it was designed with actual divers in mind. One look at the Cartier and I'm thinking it's meant to be worn at the yacht club, not on a dive boat. Could it do the job? Maybe, but that's irrelevant. I'm not making a judgement call on the watch's merits, but rather on my perception of what kind of dweeb would wear it diving.
Thank you for making my point for me.
There's really no added fiddlyness. The Bond sub was the early iteration, since then it evolved and improved, to where it is now. Crown guards definitely serve a purpose (great info here by lysanderxiii: http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...=1#post2987041 ) and correctly designed (like the current submariner), they are only a positive feature.
The Cartier Calibre watches look really great in pictures, but are ultimately way to big imo. Take it down to 40mm and they'd be really nice.
Lordy - that dial is a howler! Triple date window, Roman numerals (always wrong), truncated III, large XII, mixed with batons, concentric lines details that are interrupted not once but twice!!!, date window poorly located as well ....... Too many fonts - oh dear oh dear - and the bezel doesn't really look like it belongs on this watch at all. Perfect for it's market ;)).