Teddy Baldassarre
Cartier Panthère Review
If there is such a thing as a reigning “It-Girl” watch, the title is definitely won by none other than Cartier’s Panthère. This petite heavyweight has captured the hearts, minds, and wrists of pop culture icons and the general public since its original debut in the early 1980s, and its lasting power has proven to be perennial. On a personal note, it was also the first watch I really took notice of and fell in love with when first breaking into this wild hobby, and foundational to my own taste in watches. While some out there criticize it for being more jewelry than watch, there is a richer, more interesting story to back the Cartier Panthère up. Today, we’re plunging into the deep end of this It-Girl watch’s origin story, tracing its evolution over time, and pinpointing the key ingredients of this watch’s steadfast popularity and whether or not it really is the best Cartier watch for ladies. Cartier Panthère Context and History Image: Sotheby's Before we arrive at the birth of the It-Girl watch to end all It-Girl watches in the ‘80s, we must travel in our metaphorical time machine back further, all the way to 1913, the first year that the panther symbolism and imagery appeared in the Cartier universe. Quite fittingly, the story at hand also begins with an early 20th-century It-Girl in her own right, Jeanne Toussaint. George Barbier's 1913 "Dame à la Panthère" Born in 1887 in Belgium, Toussaint utilized her bold and vivacious personality to ascend modes...