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 minimalist porthole style brushed champagne dial decorated with round golden quarter hour indices, golden baron hands and bold ‘Pierre Cardin’ lettering at twelve, all framed by a polished gold plated bezel
The half moon brushed steel case remains in very good condition a with a mixed brushed and polished finish
The case-back features fixed lugs and is clearly stamped ‘Jaeger’ alongside ‘Pierre Cardin’
The watch is set and wound by the original Pierre Cardin stamped winding crown
Fitted is the original French made leather strap fastened by the outlandish original steel buckle. The strap’s leather upper is beginning to tear and so an aftermarket Perlon strap will be included as a replacement
The Jaeger signed FHF 36 manual wind movement runs smoothly and keeps good time
Case width (widest points) - 38mm
Case height - 39mm
Lug with - 20mm
Strap length including head - 21cm
