The Pasha 42 mm W3109255 for men. Stainless steel, silver dial, blue hands, and black leather.

Written By: Jean Flint

For a stylishly organized look, consider the Cartier Pasha 42 mm XL Men’s Watch W3109255. Its silvered opaline dial has Arabic numerals marking the hours and thin black dashes indicating the half hours along its round outer edge. In the center, a guilloché square overlays bisecting lines that connect some of the hour markers, neatly dividing the remaining space up to contain another set of numerals: 3, 6, and 9 in larger print and a date display at 12 o’clock. You may notice that the trademark blued-steel hour hand doesn’t reach outside the center square, but it is easily lined up with another set of marks along the edge of the square, where the bold marks correspond with the numeral hour markers.

The most interesting feature on this watch, hands down (if you’ll pardon the pun), is the day/night disk at the bottom of the guilloché square. It tracks the relative position of the sun or moon in the sky according to what time it is and adds a sense of perspective to the simple act of glancing at the clock.

This is an extra-large model, with a 42 millimeter (1.65 inch) stainless steel case. The back of the case, like the face, is set with scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, revealing the automatic winding caliber 8011 MC movement. The wristband is black alligator leather with an adjustable deployment buckle, made of stainless steel in keeping with the case.

Like many Cartier watches, the Pasha 42 mm W3109255 has a blue synthetic spinel cabachon set into the screw-down crown, nicely complimenting the blue hands. Aside from these small splashes of blue, this timepiece is all sleek black and silver tones – easily worn with anything.

Dial details of the sun and moon symbols on the special day/night display.

With this watch, it’s best to avoid a lot of contact with water. The case itself is water resistant to 30 meters (98 feet). It can stand to be splashed a bit while you’re, say, washing your hands, but it’s made for luxury rather than sport. This is true of the leather wristband as well; it won’t hold up well in excessive humidity and will wear out sooner than a metal band.

If you’re shopping on a budget, keep in mind that retail price for the Pasha 42 mm W3109255 is $8950. Variations are available: the Pasha 42 mm W31093M7 with a stainless steel wristband and the Pasha 42 mm W3109151 with a rose gold case and brown leather wristband, though these are a bit more pricey due to the materials.

This particular model is a Swiss-made designer watch, so it’s high-quality and high-class. For the right buyer the Cartier Pasha 42 mm XL Men’s Watch W3109255 would make an excellent purchase.