Watch showcase ~ Cartier 曬曬手錶~卡地亞

In my early working years (that was a good many years ago) those more experienced taught me that a person’s appearance adds a certain level of professionalism to one in the commercial world.  This was particularly true when you’re a newbie and are still developing your other attributes, and even more so in Hong Kong where it was very competitive.  Initially, like most girls, I went through a designer handbag phase.  One day when I was on the underground, I counted 6 other girls around me all carrying Louis Vuitton handbags.  The next week I took most of my designer handbags down to the second hand shop and sold them off.  I think I got something like  30% of my original purchase price.

Since handbags were too “me too”, I figured I’ll get something more practical and holds their value ~ watches.  Over the years, as my friends spent a chunk of their salary on childcare, tuition fees and extra curriculum activities for their kids, I spent it on watches for myself  ?.

當年剛出來工作時，長輩教導人靠衣裝 ， 尤其在香港這個競爭非常大的社會。 初時我跟其他女生一般，都會買名牌包包。直至有一天，我在地鐵上看到視線範圍內有另外六位女生都有同一法國品牌LV 的包包，我馬上把家裏大部分的名牌包包拿去二手店賣掉。而且記憶中只賣得大約當初30%的價錢。之後發覺要裝身，除了包包外還有其他較保值的方法 ~ 手錶。

THE BRAND – CARTIER

One of my favorite watch is by Cartier.  Cartier is most famous for their jewelry and hence many perceive their watches as inferior or snub them as fashion watches.  This was probably because originally most of their sales were quartz watches in the ladies market, and they didn’t have that much creditability in the high end mechanical watch sector compared to the likes of Rolex, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe.   In the recent decades, Cartier has caught up and started to produce mechanical watches completely in-house.  This, combined with many of their iconic designs, have put Cartier firmly on the map as one of the top luxury watch brands today.

在多個品牌中，卡地亞是我較喜愛的其中之一。 卡地亞以珠寶手飾著名，以前的手錶一般多以女性電子首飾錶為主， 較少生產機械錶所以在鐘錶界的名譽不算是頂級。 近年它積極發展自己製造機械錶的技術，加上精湛獨特的錶身設計，已躋身於頂級手錶品牌之中。我本身的手腕較幼，並不適合配戴大錶面的手錶。直至卡地亞天推出 Tank Divan 長方形錶， 我很開心終於可以擁有一隻較大錶面的手錶。

 

THE WATCH – TANK DIVAN

I have a small wrist so big watches were always out of the question for me.  When Cartier launched the Tank Divan for ladies I thought this was a golden opportunity to add a big watch to my small collection.  The Tank is Cartier’s most iconic watch and comes is different shapes and sizes.  The Divan’s shape is rather unusual, it’s rectangular and sits nicely even on my small wrist.  Compared to other Tank models, the Divan wasn’t such a big hit with consumers, and was discontinued by Cartier a few years after it was launched.

THE SPECIFICATIONS

• Brand : Cartier
• Model: Tank Divan
• Movement : Mechanical
• Case : Stainless steel
• Diameter : 35mm x 25mm
• Glass : Sapphire glass
• Dial : White
• Numerals : Roman
• Strap : Leather
• Clasp : Buckle

 

THE PACKAGING

My Tank Divan came in a velvet lined red hard case inside an outer box.  There is an indent on the top layer for the watch.  Two things can be seen from the photo below.  First, as can be seen from the wrist band, I have worn this watch quite a lot. And second,  due to the amateur nature of this, and all the photos, these are all my own work.

Underneath the top layer, is the bottom layer which holds the certificate of authenticity and watch information booklet.  As can be expected from a luxury brand, even this holder is produced with class.