Cartier’s watch retains the refinement and panache of the brand while holding its own in a field of brutish tool watches. It’s as if an exotic supercar company suddenly built an off-road vehicle that’s prettier than every rock-crawling 4×4 on the trail and outperforms them, too.
CARTIER DIVER WATCH ISO
While the Calibre Diver’s ISO 6425 compliance is impressive, the real beauty of this watch is that it exists at all. The overall look is seamlessly and flawlessly executed. The textured rubber strap, while a bit short, is supple and comfortable and integrates nicely into the case. Turn off the lights and its dial - including the ring around the seconds subdial - and the sword hands glow like torches, even beyond 9.8 inches away. The Roman numeral dial, while entirely unconventional in a field of watches that more typically sport hashes and dots, somehow works without impairing readability. The 42-millimeter size, curved lugs and slim profile make it easy to wear yet big enough to hold its own as a sports watch. But to see and wear the watch was revelatory. Even the early photos didn’t convince us. When the news broke this past January that Cartier was releasing its own diver, we’ll admit to a healthy dose of skepticism. The self-winding movement is hidden away behind a rather workmanlike solid steel caseback, entirely appropriate for a dive watch. The 1904 MC delivers, with twin barrels that ensure a consistent torque curve for chronometric stability across the watch’s entire 48-hour power reserve. A dive watch movement doesn’t require much in the way of complications or expert finishing, but what it does need is accuracy and reliability. The calibre 1904 MC is entirely engineered and manufactured in-house, and that’s a particularly good thing in this case there are few watch maisons these days as capable as Cartier, a company that has prolifically produced some of the most innovative and complicated timepieces of the past decade. ISO 6425 says nothing specific about the kind of movement that a dive watch should have, but that didn’t stop Cartier from endowing the Calibre Diver with a superb motor. Its inky black timing ring is rendered in Amorphous Diamond-Like Coating (ADLC) that makes it extremely scratch-resistant and adds a glossy sheen its engraved numbers are painted a luminous white. The bezel, the defining characteristic of any self-proclaimed dive watch, goes beyond the ordinary. What is new with the Diver is the rotating timing bezel, a steel ratcheting ring with a thin serrated edge for optimal grip and topped with an engraved insert. This casual elegance, equally at home in the office or on a beach, is what happens when a dress watch company builds a sports watch. Most noticeable is the dial, with its oversized Roman numeral XII, the snailed marker track, prominent seconds subdial and bolted-on crown guards surrounding a crown sporting the trademark blue sapphire.
CARTIER DIVER WATCH FULL
The question of why Cartier even needs a dive watch is immediately answered when one sees the Diver this is Cartier’s latest attempt at the style, and rather than just slapping a rotating bezel on a watch and increasing the water resistance, they’ve gone the full nine fathoms.Īesthetically, the Diver shares much with the rest of the broad-shouldered Calibre de Cartier family. So when Cartier, best known for its classic Tank and elegant Ballon Bleu watches, introduced its Calibre de Cartier Diver ($8,200) this year with full compliance with ISO 6425, the watch world took notice. After all, most dive watches scarcely see time underwater anymore, and there is considerable cost involved to have every watch independently tested for certification.
Aside from the obvious water resistance requirement (100 meters, by the way), there are more specific guidelines: the ability to read the time from a distance of 9.8 inches in total darkness, a healthy resistance to salty water, magnetism, shock, considerable tugging on the strap, and many other devious and torturous deeds.īut the fact of the matter is, not many watches are even subjected to the testing required to earn the ISO seal of approval. ISO 6425 is an international standard that spells out in great and unambiguous detail the criteria for what can be called a “diver’s watch”.
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