From steel models starting at $9,300 to an eye-popping $57,000 yellow gold edition, Cartier’s auto-affiliated watch officially makes its comeback.
More than 25 years after its debut, and well over a decade since it was discontinued, the Cartier Roadster returns in revved-up fashion and with plentiful design details drawn from the world of motorsport.
The Cartier Roadster carries on the legacy of iconic auto-affiliated timepieces from the atelier, including the Cartier Cheich, gifted to the winner of the Paris-to-Dakar Cartier Challenge. The Roadster is “tailor-made in the service of form,” the company notes, with vivid details including a date magnifier, rivets and screws directly inspired by headlights. Its tonneau-shaped case is further accented by a speedometer-inspired dial, all the while retaining the elegance of classically undersized, statement-making Cartier timepieces like the famed Cartier Tank.
Available in medium and large dial sizes in a variety of fabrications, including two-tone gold and stainless steel plus an already-sold-out grooved rubber strap option, the Cartier Roadster fittingly made its return during the recent Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austin. As InsideHook reports, the “large” Cartier Roadster (sized at 47.2mm x 38.8mm) wears well on a variety of wrist shapes and sizes, while pairing seamlessly with both more elegant and more road-ready fashion choices. Cartier also boasts an Austin boutique, bringing a sense of elevated luxury to the ever-popular Texas town.
The watch also arrives ahead of the hotly anticipated return of Formula 1 racing in Las Vegas November 19-21, as Cartier parent company Richemont oversees F1 sponsor and watchmaker IWC. There are certainly options aplenty for auto-obsessed watch enthusiasts beyond Cartier, but the retooled Roadster comes in an array of options to suit every taste, including an all-yellow gold variety as well as a fully stainless steel model (priced at $10,200).
As InsideHook further reports, “the overlap between watch enthusiasts and automotive heads runs deep,” and Cartier leaned heavily into that crossover appeal in bringing back the Roadster. “The watch’s bold, powerful design reflects the mechanical world and technological advancement,” the company said. The inclusion of four rivets on the case remains the same as its 2002 debut, another detail drawn from powerful cars on the open road.
For good measure, each is outfitted with striking, refined Roman numeral indices featuring SuperLumiNova treatment. Textured leather strap options offer refinement and dressy style, Cartier says of each timepiece (including the ultra-covetable $57,000 yellow gold edition of the Roadster).
A sporty rubber strap option (which has proven a fast seller online) accents the elegant and yet racing-ready design of the Roadster, while other secondary market versions of the Cartier Roadster are available starting at about $11,500 at sites like Chrono24.
Bolstered by what the watchmaker calls a streamlined design, Cartier notes that “the watch continues to reflect the Cartier brothers’ interest in technological advancement.” Featuring a steel caseback and a self-winding mechanical movement, the latest Cartier Roadster fittingly carries 1950s auto inspiration into a new era, priced starting at about $9,300 and available now via the watchmaker.
