Tyrese Haliburton’s Rare Cartier Is Exploding in Value

For those of you who thought the Cartier moment was passed—think again.

From the avant-garde Crash to the iconic Tank Normale, the Parisian jeweler’s wares have seemingly never been hotter. And while Piaget had quite the moment last year and a Rolex Daytona will never not be hot, there’s something about a simple, time-only dress watch in precious metal that’s as enduring as the sun. Especially when it says “Cartier” on the dial.

Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton clearly knows what we’re talking about. Speaking to the press this week following a game against the San Antonio Spurs in Paris, the burgeoning watch collector rocked a Bamboo, a rare and funky vintage Cartier from the 1970s. (We can only assume that TikTok dealer extraordinaire Mike Nouveau—who helped Pacers star pick up his Cartier Crash and Pebble—sourced this piece for him.) The Bamboo Coussin (French for “cushion”) represents a melding of Parisian and Eastern influences, with its distinctive shape taking on the aspect of rounded bamboo shoots that flow seamlessly one into the other as they form the rectangular case’s bezel. Developed in the 1970s and produced in several sizes, the larger 28.5mm x 36mm ref. 78102—which Haliburton appears to be wearing—is thought to have been made in just 250 examples.

If Cartier is the hot brand at the moment, the Bamboo may be its hottest watch on the vintage market. Back in August of 2023, Nouveau was able to pick up a Coussin for “just” $12,000. (The video of him running uptown in New York after throwing his uneaten Sweetgreen salad in the trash to buy it is peak watch content.) Prices escalated fast after that. In January of the next year, Sacha Davidoff, one-half of the great Genevan vintage shop Roy & Sacha Davidoff, set the record for a yellow-gold Bamboo at $60,000. Now, you’d be extremely lucky to find this watch at the Davidoff price. A yellow-gold Bamboo, like Haliburton’s, sold for $117,931 at Christie’s in November. If you really want to go crazy, try finding one of these in white gold. Only a few are known to exist and one just sold for $352,000 at Monaco Legends in October of last year.

Like many Cartier classics, the Bamboo, despite its avant-garde form, is readily identifiable as one of the brand’s uniquely shaped pieces. All the highlights that make the vintage Tank such an icon—the white “PARIS”-signed lacquered dial with black Roman numerals, closed railroad minute track, and sword hands; the blue cabochon crown; the simple leather strap—are all present. This being an early 1970s model, it’s powered by a hand-wound, 17-jewel movement, which is a touch that horological purists appreciate. The caseback itself is held in place by four screws, which lends the watch a touch of the industrial despite its funky lines and organic inspiration.

We’ve come a long way from the early 2000s, a time when courtside watch spotting would’ve yielded plenty in the way of gigantic IWCs, burly Panerais, and even gleaming Langes, but very little in the way of dainty yellow-gold Cartier dress watches. Times have certainly changed and there’s something endearing about the idea of a nearly-seven-foot-tall man in a competitive team sport wearing what is, for all intents and purposes, a dainty horological museum piece to a press conference.