An insane piece from the Italian-French fashion designer Pierre Cardin’s 1971 ‘Espace’ line of wristwatches
The Espace collection drew inspiration from space exploration and travel, a well known obsession of Cardin’s. A line of wristwatches reminiscent of space shuttles and their instruments is just as unusual today as it was in the early 1970s
Made not of just steel and gold, some models employed perspex and lucite to further enhance the line’s space age feel. It’s quite evident Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ was just as significant to Cardin and his watch design as it has been to directors and their films
Collectors remain unsure as to whether these pieces were made in collaboration with the Swiss company Jaeger-LeCoultre or the French brand Jaeger, or whether they were even separate entities at the time.
Despite Edmond Jaeger and Jacques-David LeCoultre’s first collaboration in 1903 and the subsequent merging of the two family names, it’s been suggested that watches were produced by Jaeger France as a way of Jaeger-LeCoultre to distribute some of its lesser-known movements
This piece features a blue oval dial with white baton indices alongside baton hands
The brutalist brushed steel case is in very cool patinated condition and features striated chamfers to the top and bottom
The case back is stamped ‘Jaeger France’ above the reference ‘578337’. Either side of the snap on back are fixed wire lugs
The original acrylic glass is clear and secure
Attached is a new black Nato strap
The Jaeger signed FHF 36 manual wind movement has just undergone a full and comprehensive service. It runs smoothly and keeps good time
Case width - 35mm
Case height - 41mm
Lug width - 15mm
Strap length including head - 28cm
