Ballon Bleu (Blue Dial)

The Ballon Bleu is Cartier's answer to a plain round case: a bowed profile, a crown sunk into its own guard and capped with a sapphire cabochon, so nothing about the silhouette reads as a copy of anyone else's round watch.

This Cartier Ballon Bleu wears a 42mm steel case with a blue dial in Roman numerals. Automatic calibre 1847 MC inside, on a blue alligator strap.

Fun fact: the case shape is drawn so the crown guard curves out from the mid case like a ball, which is where the name comes from, and the cabochon on the crown is a real cut synthetic spinel rather than a moulded cap.