Clé de Cartier 40

The Clé de Cartier 40 in stainless steel (ref. WSCL0007) is a dress watch built around the line's defining innovation: a winding crown shaped like a key, positioned at 12 o'clock rather than the conventional 3 o'clock. The 40 mm case houses a silvered sunray dial dressed with Roman numerals, maintaining the refined, architectural vocabulary that has long characterised Cartier's dress pieces. Calibre 1847 MC, an in-house movement developed by Cartier, provides the mechanical foundation.

Cartier introduced the Clé de Cartier collection in 2015, presenting the repositioned key-form crown as both a functional and aesthetic departure from convention. The WSCL0007 — the stainless steel, 40 mm expression — brought the line's design language to a broader audience through the accessibility of steel. Production of the reference continued through approximately 2021, during which time the Clé line established itself as one of Cartier's more architecturally distinctive modern introductions. Collectors regard the steel 40 mm as the most wearable entry point into the Clé family.