Cartier watches have always cemented themselves in haute horology history, but very few have a story quite like the Cheich. Sotheby’s just brought one of the rarest examples ever made to its Important Watches Hong Kong sale, where a one-of-one white gold Cartier Cheich sold for $3,413,124. That was well into record-setting territory for the brand, and it makes this particular watch the most expensive Cartier wristwatch ever sold at auction.
The Cheich traces its roots back to the Paris-Dakar Rally and Cartier’s involvement with the event in the 1980s. Starting in 1983, Cartier created the Cartier Challenge, offering a wristwatch as a trophy to any racer who could win the grueling desert rally in consecutive years. Instead of going with a traditional trophy design, Cartier looked to the Tuareg people of the Sahara for inspiration. Their distinctive blue headscarves, known as cheichs, gave the watch its name and its instantly recognizable shape. Gaston Rahier, one of the era’s most successful motorcycle racers, became the first and only recipient after winning the 1984 and 1985 races. The Cartier Challenge ended after Paris-Dakar founder Thierry Sabine died in a helicopter accident in 1986.
Only four Cheich watches were originally made during that period, which is part of what makes the watch so difficult to track down today. One was made for the men's competition and another for the women's, while a third was created for Sabine and has since disappeared. The fourth was intended for another winner who never came along. Rahier's original eventually surfaced at Sotheby's in 2022 and sold for more than €1 million, while two other examples remain in Cartier's archives. Then there is this one. Created in 2010 for longtime Cartier collector Giorgio Seragnoli, the white gold example was a special commission and is technically a fifth Cheich, marked No. 1 of 1.
Measuring 38mm, the watch has an 18k white gold case, white dial, quartz movement and brown Cartier leather strap. Movement complexity was never really the point here. The appeal is the fact that this is a watch that was never meant to become a collection or a commercial model. It was made once, for one collector, based on one of Cartier's most unusual designs. That combination of motorsport history, Cartier provenance and extreme rarity is why the Cheich has become such a mysterious piece of watchmaking history. After decades of barely being seen, its $3.4 million Sotheby's result has finally put a number on just how much that history is worth.
Source: Sotheby's
