CARTIER PASHA

The Pasha collection is considered the top of the Cartier watch production range. The choice of the name is due to the prestigious buyer who inspired the line: Thami El Glaoui pasha of Marrakech, who in the 1930s went to the boutique in Rue de la Paix, Paris, to personally request the creation of a waterproof watch to wear in the swimming pool.
The specialist Cartier technicians invented a real and true waterproofing system for the crown, already used in the Tank model, further revised to stop water reaching the most delicate part of the watch. Some Cartier archive photos dating back to the 1930s testify to the evaluations carried out on the capacities of the watch, immersed in a container full of water for a certain period of time: thus, in 1933, having passed the tests Thami El Glaoui's “special” tank was presented to him.
Just ten years later, in 1943, during the second world war, the company went back to waterproof watches, taking inspiration from military models. The timepiece developed is characterised by a rounded case, smooth, solid and aesthetically “opulent”, recalling the prestigious customer from Marrakech. Thus the model Pasha de Cartier was officially born with its noticeable technical peculiarities: gold case, protective grid over the dial and crown coverset fixed to the case by a small chain. Unlike the first military watches, with a radial protection grid and circular central opening, the glass of the Pasha was protected by four small perpendicular bars. Subsequently the use of shatterproof glass eliminated the need for this device, whilst the crown with screw-down protection strayed very much en vogue; the US and Russian navies in particular used this model well into the 1950s.
The second renaissance of the Pasha came about in 1985, forty years after its conception, in a rich and completely renewed collection, destined for success and greatly admired by women, despite its larger case size.
The basic model is the steel Pasha C, 35mm case, smooth bezel, flat link bracelet, automatic movement, sapphire crystal without a sapphire cabochon on the crown coverset. The dial is available in a pearly grey or blue with bar hour markers or in white with four Arabic numerals with cardinal points and hour markers.
A deluxe model is the Pasha “Plongeur” Steel, with rounder bracelet link, cabochon on the crown coverset, waterproof to 100m like the previous model, with a slate-grey guilloché with an Arabic number 12, raised bar hour markers and a 38mm case with an engraved unidirectional rotatable bezel. The Plongeur is available both with a crocodile-skin strap with deployante claps and a steel bracelet.  The Pasha Chronograph also belongs to the Steel series, with an integrated movement with quartz time 'base' and 'train' mechanic chronograph. The dial is silvery white with a radial finish interwoven and interrupted by three oval chronograph subdials and the case is 38mm. The model “Chronoreflex” is smaller at 35mm with a “Medical” quartz movement, perpetual calendar and double time zone. The dial is grey with a clous de Paris finish, rhombus dials and semi-circle tritium hour markers.

The Steel and Gold series comprises three models: the automatic Plongeur, with silver dial, 38mm case, steel caseback and gold bezel; quartz Chronograph, with 38mm case and champagne and guilloché dial; Plongeur with gold bezel and central links, 35mm case and slate-grey dial with applied Roman numeral 12.
The Gold series has more models, seven in fact:
1. the Plongeur of 35 mm with silver dial and roman numerals;
2. two 38mm automatics with a silver dial raised at the centre and roman numerals, one with smooth dial and the other rotatable;
3. three chronographs: 35mm Chronoreflex, quartz chronograph of 39mm and automatic 38mm with innovative golden border around the subdials and the transparent caseback;
4. the “historic” model with removable grid over the dial.

The Pasha collection also includes luxury models with high complications, all with a 38mm case in 18kt gold and hand-made guilloché dials . Of these the Pasha Golf stands out with its four subdials which allow for the timing of the game for the same number of players and sapphire, jade, tigerseye, coral and onyx cabochon. An automatic watch with lunar phases and calendar, a quartz watch with alarm and two automatic models (“two spindle” and “three spindle”) are included in the range. Running through the collection we encounter the Perpetual Calendar with lunar phases and leap-year indication, followed by the Perpetual Calendar with minute repetition, the most expensive watch in the range.
All the “high complication” models are equipped with a motor-incorporated box that keeps the movement of the watch constantly active, removing the need for manual winding by the customer. The Pasha underwent a further restyling in 2005 when at the Salon Internation de l'Haute Horlogerie in Geneva an automatic and mechanical movement was presented, included in a new Jaeger-LeCoultre collection. The new models are distinguished by their increased case size, from 32mm to 42mm in diameter.

The Pasha 42mm Chronograph was presented in two dazzling versions: one in yellow gold with silvery opal dial and the other in white gold with bezel encrusted with 49 diamonds and black crocodile skin strap. The classic little chain was replaced by a single rectangular link that, once closed, completely covers the reset pusher, whilst the sapphire crystal caseback reveals the particular design of the 8100 MC calibre, also of Jaeger-LeCoultre production, characterised by an upper bridge with three openings on the hairspring, on the column wheen and on the mechanism.

The latest addition to the collection is the Seatimer, in 2006. An extra large men's model that combines the polished steel of the case and the black ceramic of the bezel with the black rubber finish of the bracelet links., butterfly clasp, with small wings to open.
The dial is available in white or black the movement is an automatic calibre 049, suited to the thickness of the case. It is a particularly sporty watch that uses contrasts to its advantage, both materially and aesthetically, reaffirming the maison's creativity, capable of reinterpteing the classic from a contemporary angle.
On the second hand market for Cartier Pashas, it is important to remember that the first quartz watches of the 1990s were called “hybrid movement chronograph” because the mechansm is quartz whilst the chronography is mechanic.

Steel	Steel and Gold	Gold	Steel and Platinum
Diamonds	Quartz	Mechanical
The colour yellow represents gold in all its variants: Rose, White and Yellow. For more information contact our experts: drg@dellaroccagioielli.com