They say never meet your heroes. I’ve met a few of mine. Sometimes it’s been great – especially for people in the watch space that I admire – but reality rarely meets expectations. That’s why I was nervous about seeing luxury fake Cartier’s Privé Normale. My skepticism was unfounded. The new Normale is awesome.
I’ve spent far too much time looking through books on best 1:1 fake Cartier history in an effort to understand not only the brand but the design choices they made from the 1920s to the 1970s and most specifically their bracelets. While it’s not a bracelet with quick-adjust or anything we normally get excited about, a bracelet in the Privé collection for the first time is big news. So big in fact that it overshadowed the wild 24-hour skeleton movement AAA copy Cartier Privé Normale announced at the same time.
I have minor qualms about the dial color and handset that are partially personal preference, but I really think cheap replica Cartier knocked it out of the park this one. I’m surprised by my choice of a simple time-only Cartier as my favorite watch of the trade show – since I’d much rather have picked a high complication (like the Patek 5316P which, sadly, I only saw behind glass) – but the folks at Swiss movement copy Cartier had exactly what a lot of fans had hoped for and sometimes that is all it takes.