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 · Cle
Cartier Cle 37 mm Salmon Grade
Reference 96985OR.46
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Cartier
- Collection
- Cle
- Model
- Cartier Cle 37 mm Salmon Grade
- Reference number
- 96985OR.46
- Year / era
- 2008 · 2000s — modern production
- Complication
- Time and date
- Movement
- In-house automatic chronograph
- Case material
- Grade 5 titanium
- Dial type
- Salmon
- Strap / bracelet
- Alligator leather with folding clasp
- Water resistance
- 150 m
- Limited-edition status
- Limited edition of 100 pieces
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 37 mm
- Case thickness
- 9.4 mm
- Case material
- Grade 5 titanium
- Bezel
- Emerald-set
- Crystal
- Anti-reflective sapphire, double-domed
- Dial
- Salmon
- Hands
- Rhodium-plated baton hands with luminous fill
- Indexes
- Applied faceted white-gold indexes
- Bracelet / strap
- Alligator leather with folding clasp
- Clasp / buckle
- Pin buckle in matching case metal
- Water resistance
- 150 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 76E — In-house automatic chronograph
- Movement type
- Automatic, self-winding
- Frequency
- 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 55 hours
- Number of jewels
- 40 jewels
- Complications
- Time and date
- Functions
- Flying tourbillon, power reserve
- Watchmaker
- Finishing, assembly and timing are carried out in the manufacture's own atelier.
Production & market
- Production period
- 2008 – 2015
- Limited-edition quantity
- 100 pieces
- Current market information
- Thin secondary-market supply — pricing is set piece by piece at auction.
Designer
Gérald Genta
Gérald Genta (1931–2011) trained as a goldsmith in Geneva and became the most influential watch designer of the 20th century. Working freelance, he sketched the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak overnight in 1970, followed by the Patek Philippe Nautilus, the IWC Ingenieur SL and the Bulgari Bulgari — defining the integrated-bracelet luxury sports watch as a category.
Historical significance
Cartier Cle 37 mm Salmon Grade sits within Cartier's Cle line, introduced in 2008. It carries the house codes established since 1847 — grade 5 titanium case, salmon dial and in-house automatic chronograph — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
- 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.