Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Cartier · Ballon Bleu
Cartier Ballon Bleu 36 mm Green Carbon
Reference 36235OR.74
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Cartier
- Collection
- Ballon Bleu
- Model
- Cartier Ballon Bleu 36 mm Green Carbon
- Reference number
- 36235OR.74
- Year / era
- 1985 · 1980s — mechanical revival
- Complication
- Time only
- Movement
- In-house manual-winding
- Case material
- Carbon TPT
- Dial type
- Green sunburst
- Strap / bracelet
- Milanese mesh
- Water resistance
- 50 m
- Limited-edition status
- Limited edition of 100 pieces
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 36 mm
- Case thickness
- 10.2 mm
- Case material
- Carbon TPT
- Bezel
- Unidirectional ceramic 60-minute
- Crystal
- Anti-reflective sapphire, double-domed
- Dial
- Green sunburst
- Hands
- Skeletonised sword hands, white luminescent
- Indexes
- Diamond-set hour markers
- Bracelet / strap
- Milanese mesh
- Clasp / buckle
- Pin buckle in matching case metal
- Water resistance
- 50 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 76C — In-house manual-winding
- Movement type
- Automatic, self-winding
- Frequency
- 36,000 vph (5 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 55 hours
- Number of jewels
- 45 jewels
- Complications
- Time only
- Functions
- Dive time, running seconds
- Watchmaker
- The calibre is built in-house and adjusted in five positions before delivery.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1985 – 1998
- Limited-edition quantity
- 100 pieces
- Current market information
- Thin secondary-market supply — pricing is set piece by piece at auction.
Designer
Marc Newson
Marc Newson is an Australian industrial designer whose work spans Qantas cabins, Apple hardware and Jaeger-LeCoultre's Atmos clocks; his watch design reduces the object to pure geometry and legibility.
Historical significance
Cartier Ballon Bleu 36 mm Green Carbon sits within Cartier's Ballon Bleu line, introduced in 1985. It carries the house codes established since 1847 — carbon tpt case, green sunburst dial and in-house manual-winding — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- Early production dials show a slightly different minute track, and collectors pay a premium for them.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
The House
Cartier
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1847
- Founder
- Louis-François Cartier
- Headquarters
- France
- Tier
- Luxury
- Major collections
- Santos, Tank, Ballon Bleu, Panthère, Pasha, Baignoire, Cle, Privé
- Signature technologies
- Hand-applied guilloché dials · Proprietary case-hardening and polishing · In-house hairspring production
- Famous movements
- In-house manual-winding · In-house automatic chronograph · In-house automatic, chronometer certified · In-house automatic, Superlative Chronometer
- Notable watches
- Cartier Santos 43 mm Mother-of-pearl Sapphire (1976) · Cartier Santos 36 mm Silvered 18k (1986) · Cartier Santos 44 mm Salmon Grade (1992) · Cartier Santos 43 mm Green Carbon (1980)
Brand history
Cartier has spent more than 179 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Santos, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Louis-François Cartier established Cartier in 1847, working from France at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Cartier calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1847
Louis-François Cartier founds Cartier in France.
1887
Cartier earns its first international recognition for precision timekeeping.
1969
The quartz era forces Cartier to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Cartier enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Cartier continues to produce Santos, Tank, Ballon Bleu and other icons in limited numbers.