Of these, the Calibre de Cartier is the company’s first watch to feature an automatic mechanical movement designed entirely in-house at Cartier’s production facility in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. As Cartier entered the new millennium, it began producing a number of new models. The resulting Santos watch was a commercial success, paving the way for other legendary Cartier watches like the Tonneau, the Tank Française and the Crash throughout the 20th century. Louis Cartier (1875–1942), the grandson of the house’s founder Louis-François Cartier, developed a wearable watch in 1904 at the request of his friend the charismatic pilot Alberto Santos-Dumont, who wanted to be able to tell the time mid-flight without pulling out his pocket watch.

Founded in 1847, Cartier is credited with popularizing one of the first true modern wristwatches. Launched in 2010, the Calibre de Cartier was the internationally acclaimed French jeweler’s bold statement - and a relatively affordable one - in the men’s sports market, although the watch remains true to Cartier’s design heritage through signature elements, such as sword-like hands and an inlaid blue cabochon in the winding crown. With a robust 42mm case, thick rounded lugs and a simple dial that combines Roman numerals and baton indexes, the 5.3-ounce watch exudes a gentle masculine aesthetic.

And that is precisely what the Cartier design team intended.

If you were to describe the Calibre de Cartier watch in a word, it would be simply this: masculine.

Cartier calibre discontinued