Cartier Roadster 'S', 2010s

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

If the original Roadster was Cartier’s exuberant take on the sports watch, the Roadster S was the follow-up that cleaned up the lines. Introduced as a sportier, more streamlined evolution of the automotive-inspired collection, it retained the Roadster’s distinctive tonneau shape while dialing back some of the more theatrical details. The result is a Cartier sports watch that feels unusually clean, architectural, and very much a product of its era. Reference W6206017-3312 is executed entirely in stainless steel, with the broad brushed surfaces of its case flowing directly into an integrated triple-row bracelet. The silver opaline dial brings things firmly back into familiar Cartier territory. Oversized black Roman numerals radiate around its perimeter, complemented by an inner minute track and luminous sword-shaped hands. At 3 o’clock sits a neatly integrated date aperture, surrounded by an elongated oval outline that provides a subtle nod to the dramatic magnified date display of the original Roadster. Inside is the automatic Cartier Calibre 049, offering approximately 42 hours of power reserve. The case has substantial wrist presence, measuring approximately 46mm lug-to-lug, but the tonneau construction and integrated bracelet give it a much more cohesive profile than those numbers might suggest. That bracelet is particularly important to the Roadster S. Its broad, flat links continue the case's geometry rather than simply attaching to it, making the watch read as a single piece of industrial design. The alternating brushed and polished surfaces add just enough refinement to remind you that, sports watch or not, this is still Cartier. The Roadster S has become increasingly interesting as collectors reassess Cartier’s more recent design history. It isn’t trying to be a Tank, Santos, or vintage-inspired revival. Instead, it represents Cartier experimenting with what a modern sports watch could look like on its own terms — bold Roman numerals, an unconventional case, integrated steel construction, and just enough automotive influence to live up to the Roadster name. This example is fitted to its original stainless steel bracelet and is accompanied by its original Cartier papers dating from the 2010s. For anyone interested in the less obvious corners of Cartier collecting, the Roadster S makes a compelling case for the maison’s wonderfully experimental early-21st-century period.