For fans of Cartier who happen to be guys, this watch has been a long time coming. Don’t get me wrong, Cartier makes a host of men’s watches, but the Cartier Drive de Cartier Replica watch is a piece that I could confidently say is a watch that can successfully broaden the brand’s appeal in a way that hasn’t been done for quite some time. The reason for this may very well lie in the fact that it offers a range of options from steel, to gold, to a flying tourbillon model. That being said, it’s the steel version that is both the most affordable and has me the most excited.
Before I get into the technical aspects of the watch, I want to talk about the shape of the Cartier Drive de Cartier watch. It’s a new design for Cartier, looking like a cushion-shaped watch with a defined dial that has soft corners rather than a circular dial. It works, and it works very well. The dials all have a richness of depth to them, with a focus on the interplay between visual texture that contrasts the varying guilloche designs, flat surface dial, and even “skeletonizing” the space between the roman numerals in the flying tourbillon model to expose the guilloche below.There are three versions of the Cartier Replica Watches. The base steel model comes in a white or black dial, both running on the 1904-PS MC movement. This is the in-house Cartier automatic movement that operates at 4Hz and has the time with a subsidiary seconds dial and date. It is the same trusted movement used in watches like the Cartier Tank MC. Are people going to whine about the date window? Probably. I’m actually one of those people who would prefer the option to not have it there, but it doesn’t really take away all that much from this watch. In fact, I could learn to like it but would much prefer this next one.
The steel and pink gold versions that run on the 1904-FU MC are the “small complication” watches. These offer a second time zone dial at 10 o’clock and a day/night indicator at 4 o’clock. As fatigued as I am of the date window conversation, I must say the large date window at 12 o’clock here looks great and is definitely nicer than the smaller one at 3 o’clock in the 1904-PS MC model. I know that’s a matter of taste, but if you must have the date window, then this one is it.Finally, there is the Cheap Cartier. This watch runs on the manual 9452 MC movement, which only shows the time and the tourbillon. It also carries the Geneva Seal, which is a sign of some of the highest level and quality watchmaking known. It’s an undeniably beautiful piece that is sure to get the attention of collectors who are looking for something new from the “Fine Watchmaking” workshops of Cartier.
Cartier could probably lose some of the macho vintage car origin myth of this watch’s design and be perfectly fine. The guilloche is allegedly inspired by the design of a radiator grill on a car, and the bolt shaped crown is designed to illicit a similar automotive theme. Sure, and I really do see where they are coming from here. But in a way, the best compliment I can pay this watch is that I really don’t care about the design’s backstory that much. With the Cartier Drive de Cartier Replica, the brand has created a fantastic and handsome piece that I could wear every day and be proud of with both the design as well as the quality in-house movements.