It was nearly two years ago that we wondered: Have we reached peak Cartier Crash?

It wasn’t just us. Such august horological luminaries as Hodinkee founder Ben Clymer and @dimepiece’s Brynn Wallner were over it, too. One too many late-night appearances, step-and-repeat sightings, and courtside showings had begun to render the iconic 1960s timepiece a bit, well, mundane.

Alas. That was two years ago, and without another Swiss grail to vie for its place on the pinnacle of Mt. Watchmore, the Crash is back for a victory lap. Exhibit A: Noted watch connoisseur and unofficial guy of the week Bad Bunny wore a platinum Cartier Crash to the Super Bowl LX halftime show press conference on Thursday. And you know what? It looked good. Maybe it was that the dude had just cleaned up at the Grammys. Maybe it’s that he’s about to play in front of 130 million people on Sunday. Or maybe it was because he paired the wonky watch with a double-breasted pinstripe suit, a fur coat, and a bunny hat. Whatever it was, it was working.

It certainly didn’t hurt that the Puerto Rican pop superstar’s Crash of choice is among the best of the bunch: an ultra-exclusive version with a platinum case, a ruby cabochon crown, and a taupe leather strap sold in exceedingly small numbers at Cartier’s New Bond Street location in London. While priced at a relatively reasonable £43,000 (around $58,000) when it launched in 2023, its highly-limited production means your best shot at buying one is on the secondary market, where they easily fetch a cool half-mil.

Made in roughly a dozen examples in the late 1960s, the Crash has gone through several iterations in various case metals, dial types, and colorways over the decades. Beyond its rarity and cool factor, however, the Crash’s blend of originality and simplicity perfectly illustrates why Cartier is a GOAT of 20th-century watchmaking. Undeniably rare and fabulously cool, it’s a watch that only the most well-heeled and well-connected can put their hands on. In other words, a natural choice for an artist at the top of his game.

Carlos Alcaraz’s Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Tiffany Blue”