Where is the serial number on a Cartier watch?

Movement numbers usually belong to the movement supplier; case and movement must be researched separately.

What do Cartier serial numbers mean?

Case numbers identify the individual watch; references identify models. Conventions differ by period and workshop (for example Paris, London or New York retail).

How accurate is dating a Cartier watch by serial number?

Archive-dependent: public estimates are unreliable; seek manufacturer confirmation.

Where are Cartier production records held?

Cartier's heritage and after-sales services are the recognised route for confirmation; many vintage pieces used movements from specialist suppliers.

Serial-number guide

Cartier Serial Numbers

Needs research

What a Cartier serial number can establish, what it cannot, and how to record a date estimate another researcher could check.

Diagram

Schematic: where markings are found. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Method

Reading the number, step by step

1. Find the movement number
Movement numbers usually belong to the movement supplier; case and movement must be researched separately.
2. Understand what it encodes
Case numbers identify the individual watch; references identify models. Conventions differ by period and workshop (for example Paris, London or New York retail).
3. Judge how precise the date can be
Archive-dependent: public estimates are unreliable; seek manufacturer confirmation.
4. Check the records behind the tables
Cartier's heritage and after-sales services are the recognised route for confirmation; many vintage pieces used movements from specialist suppliers.

Quick facts

Manufacturer: Cartier
Dating confidence: Estimate only — see notes
Editorial status: Needs research

Sources & references

Manufacturer heritage services
Exhibition catalogues and monographs on the maker (secondary)

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.

Limits

What the number does not prove

Do not assume all 'Cartier' signed pieces from a period share a numbering system across its retail branches.
Do not treat a signed dial alone as authentication.

Questions

Frequently asked

Where is the serial number on a Cartier watch?: Movement numbers usually belong to the movement supplier; case and movement must be researched separately.
What do Cartier serial numbers mean?: Case numbers identify the individual watch; references identify models. Conventions differ by period and workshop (for example Paris, London or New York retail).
How accurate is dating a Cartier watch by serial number?: Archive-dependent: public estimates are unreliable; seek manufacturer confirmation.
Where are Cartier production records held?: Cartier's heritage and after-sales services are the recognised route for confirmation; many vintage pieces used movements from specialist suppliers.

Continue

Diagram

Reading the number, step by step

1. Find the movement number

2. Understand what it encodes

3. Judge how precise the date can be

4. Check the records behind the tables

Quick facts

Sources & references

What the number does not prove

Frequently asked

Other serial-number guides