Cartier Vendome Biplan: Elegant Simplicity

mr. ieux · 2016-01-07T02:09:57Z

Discover the rare Cartier Vendome Biplan, a 1994 timepiece with Art Deco design and an innovative deployant clasp. Learn about its Piaget movement and unique features.

Happy New Year to all in the Cartier forum

Please allow me to indulge you on one of my watches that just returned from a complete overhaul from my local Cartier boutique. The team at the newly re-opened Sydney Cartier boutique did a wonderful job restoring this timepiece back to it's glorious state.

Very little is known about this Cartier model known as the Cartier Vendome Biplan. As far as I know, it was introduced in 1994 to limited quantities and was suddenly retired after a brief release. It's very difficult to find any source material about this watch and it's unique design in any of the current Cartier publications. If you happen to have any more information, please do share them.

What I love about this timepiece from a design perspective is that it's undeniably 100% Cartier from all angles. It's sleek lines, well balanced shape in my opinion evoke the art deco movement, an integral period of the Maison when most of the design classics of Cartier evolved to how we know it today.

The face of the watch is very simple but highly effective. Classic Roman numerals, railroad seconds track, the blued sword shaped hands and of course, the guilloched dial. It also lacks a date window and a seconds hand which only adds to the elegant, quiet simplicity of the watch. The case is accentuated by simple crown topped by a sapphire cabochon.

The verso of the watch to me is as exciting as the front. The main feature of the 32mm case design is what makes this watch fascinating. The deployant folds discretely into the case back, making the strap even more streamlined, not obstructing the clean lines of the blue alligator strap. Even the screws that secure the mechanical Piaget 40P caliber recall the screws of it's cousin, the Santos. Once again, no detail is spared

I'm guessing that the name 'biplan' or 'bi-plane' is derived from an early type of aircraft with two pairs of wings parallel to one another. If you look at the profile of the watch, you can see that there are three graduated curved rings that are stacked. The shape in fact is reminiscent of another famous design icon on 5th Avenue: Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum. But that's just me. What do you think?

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Cartier Vendome Biplan: Elegant Simplicity

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