Watch Paparazzi

Designer Yves Saint Laurent spotted wearing Cartier

Irving Penn's lens captured many of the twentieth century's defining cultural figures, and this black-and-white portrait of Yves Saint Laurent is no exception. Visible on YSL's wrist is a Cartier Must de Cartier Tank — a watch that, much like the designer himself, managed to be simultaneously accessible and uncompromising in its aesthetic convictions.

Launched in 1977 under then-CEO Robert Hocq, the Must de Cartier line was a calculated commercial response to the quartz crisis. By producing the Tank in vermeil — sterling silver with a thick gold electroplate meeting the 10-micron minimum — Cartier brought the iconic rectangular case to a broader audience without abandoning its house codes. Early Must de Cartier Tank references ran on a manually wound ETA 2512 movement before transitioning to quartz calibres from around 1982 onward. The dial on this example displays the period-correct roman numeral chapter ring, blued steel hands, and the early 'must de Cartier' lowercase signature — a detail that precisely dates the piece to the late 1970s production run.

Among collectors, the Must de Cartier Tank occupies a peculiar and increasingly coveted position. Long dismissed as a lesser sibling to the gold or platinum Tank Louis Cartier, the Must has undergone significant reappraisal. Surviving examples with intact vermeil and original dials without tropicalisation command a growing premium on the secondary market. The manual-wind references from 1977–1981 are particularly sought after by purists.

For Yves Saint Laurent, the watch was entirely consistent with his personal philosophy. A man who stripped women's fashion to its architectural bones — le smoking, the trench, the safari jacket — would naturally gravitate toward a watch whose design has remained essentially unchanged since Louis Cartier sketched it in 1917. The Tank did not need to announce itself. Neither did its wearer.

On today's grey market, early manual-wind Must de Cartier Tank pieces in good vermeil condition trade between $800 and $2,500 depending on completeness of set and dial condition. New old stock examples with boxes and papers can push higher. For a watch once sold as an affordable alternative, that trajectory is quietly remarkable.