The rarest and most compelling Cartier watches of the twentieth century are frequently those produced not in the great Parisian ateliers alone but through the network of distinguished retailers and intermediaries who were authorised, in certain exceptional cases, to sign both dial and movement alongside the Cartier name itself. Alexis Barthelay, the celebrated Parisian retailer and watchmaker of the mid-twentieth century, occupies precisely this position: a figure whose own signature on a Cartier dial and movement constitutes not a diminution of the piece's Cartier identity but a doubling of its documentary interest and a powerful signal of the exceptional circumstances of its commissioning.

The present example, reference 864/22, in 18-karat yellow gold with fluted hooded lugs of pronounced architectural character, houses an Eta movement of 17 jewels signed by A. Barthelay, within a case numbered 21708/00176. The dial, white with Roman numerals, is signed Cartier, while the movement bears the countersignature of Barthelay, a combination that places this watch within a very small category of dual-signed Cartier commissions whose rarity is by its nature irreducible. The case measures 18 by 38mm and weighs 36.5 grams, the 18-karat yellow gold Cartier deployant clasp with an approximate total bracelet length of 175mm completing an ensemble of the 1970s whose coherence and integrity are entirely consistent with a watch preserved with exceptional care across half a century.