Even Tom Brady Is a Cartier Crash Fanboy Now

Photographs: Getty Images, Cartier; Collage: Gabe Conte

Given his extensive collection of some of the world’s finest watches, it was only a matter of time before we spotted Tom Brady in a Cartier Crash. Effortlessly cool, outrageously valuable, and rarer than a biblical artifact from an Indiana Jones screenplay, the Crash is the It watch of 2024—and arguably 2023 and 2022, while we’re at it. And while some of Brady’s watches may be more objectively special given their configurations and limited availability, none has quite the cachet of this most special Cartier.

All sorts of legends have cropped up attesting to the origins of the Cartier Crash. Famous among them is one in which a Cartier Maxi Oval was involved in a terrible car crash—one so violent that the resulting fire distorted its ovular shape into a dripping, avant-garde contour that was subsequently adapted by the maison into an entire collection. Yet another horological theory holds that Cartier London was inspired by the strange “melting” pocket watches in Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory, using them as the basis for a fresh take on the Tank.

Neither story, unfortunately, is true. Rather, some combination of intelligent forethought and the desires of acclaimed British thespian Stewart Grainer—who requested, in typical watch industry fashion, a “watch unlike any other”—moved Jean-Jacques Cartier to conceive of a more whimsical Cartier timepiece.

He approached Rupert Emmerson, part of Cartier London’s design team, and described a watch that would be made by “pinching the ends at a point and pulling a kink in the middle.” Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. The prototyping phase went through several iterations, and then the metalworkers at Wright & Davies had to fashion the precious metal cases by hand. And when Cartier London head watchmaker Eric Denton tried to fit the hand-wound Jaeger-LeCoultre movements into said cases, the hands didn’t line up with the correct time. Again and again they tried, until finally, in 1967, they had the first working Crash on their hands.

Ironically, Grainger reportedly found it too “unusual and impractical.” Cartier London made only a dozen or so pieces of this original run, selling them for $1,000 or so—roughly $9,000 today. (Cue: writer sobbing uncontrollably at his desk.) Cartier London was eventually sold outside of the family, and by the time the next run of Crashes were produced in the 1980s, they sported “Paris”-signed dials. Later, in the ’90s, about 400 were made, while in 2010, the maison released a hand-wound, skeletonized version. But it was in 2019, when Cartier’s London boutique began selling the Ref. WGCH0006—effectively a modern take on the original Crash— that things really started to heat up.

Fast-forward to 2024, when a run-of-the-mill, solid-gold, hand-wound Tank Louis costs about $13,000. A Crash—which is supposedly produced today at the rate of roughly one per month—is a six-figure proposition reserved for the company’s best clients. And if you want an original, London-signed version from the swinging sixties? Well, let’s put it this way: Do you have $1.65 million to spare?

This, of course, hasn’t stopped a who’s who of actors, athletes, musicians, and other celebs from donning the dripping Crash in all manner of situations—entering stadiums, attending the Met Gala, or simply strolling the streets of NYC. To wit, here are seven prominent stars who have rocked Cartier’s watch of the moment.

Tyler, the Creator

In 2021, the ever-stylish rapper and designer strapped on a Crash for his “Lumberjack” video, completing a horological transformation that saw him upgrade from an $11 Casio to an all-time It watch within the space of a year. May we all get to experience a glow up that epic at some point in our lives.

Timothée Chalamet

Chalamet’s 2013 iteration of the Crash features a diamond-studded bezel and a matching serpentine bracelet. A clever take on the more pared-down original, it shows that the Crash is a highly adaptable design.

Jay-Z

Not only is Hov’s Crash skeletonized, but it’s also not gold—rather, it’s built from lightweight titanium. Released in 2015, it’s the version of the Crash that 007 would request from Q Branch.

LeBron James

King James wore a skeletonized, 18K-rose-gold Crash last month. And if these are more to your taste than the old-school versions, take heart: They’re only roughly $91,000.

Tyrese Haliburton

The Indiana Pacers point guard wore a Crash in NYC that he bought from two important dealers, Mike Nouveau and Zoe Abelson, back in November 2023. With the exception of the “Swiss Made” dial, this version looks like a spitting image of the ’60s original.

Kim Kardashian

A Paris-signed model in yellow gold, this Crash is produced in the classic 1960s mold. Its timeless looks are proof positive of the old adage: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Dan Levy

What do you pair with a custom Loewe fit for the Met Gala? A Crash in yellow gold, of course. (Sometimes, as Dan Levy has proven, more is more.)

Originally Appeared on GQ