Written by: Stacy McCullough Hundreds of companies make luxury watches. It is hard to decipher which ones are worth spending the thousands of dollars on. Besides looking good, you probably want the brand to be a recognizable status symbol that sits on your wrist. One watch giving it a good attempt is the Cartier Baignoire Women’s Watch W8000001.

The Baignoire is a fantastic looking watch with a polished 18k white gold case. Like all Cartiers, only solid gold is used so be sure to check that prior to purchasing. You don’t want to spend money only to end up with a cheap imitation. The case is an oval shape with the length at 44mm and the width at 34mm. It is merely 10mm thick. While the dimensions are somewhat smaller, this is a women’s watch made to look good on anyone wearing it. The white gold surrounds a silver dial with Roman Numerals on it. The hands are a beautiful shade of blue and sword shaped making the watch easy to read. The Baignoire has a manual winding movement that may not be the most accurate, but is considered the only way to form a watch by traditionalists. This means that gears are moving to change the time rather than the quartz. The dial is protected by sapphire crystal – a scratch resistant window. While you shouldn’t toss the watch around, minor bumps or drops shouldn’t hurt it.  W8000001 has a water resistant case of up to 30 meters or 100 feet. Cartier had a great intention here, however their strap is not water resistant. Made from black leather and showing an alligator pattern, even treated leather has only a few minutes to be in water before signs of wear start showing. It is not recommended to swim, shower or even wash dishes wearing your Baignoire. The strap is 6.5 inches, which may be large for some women, but it is adjustable and has a buckle clasp. The crown is one of Cartier’s great examples of attention to detail: it is faceted with a small sapphire cabochon, matching the watch hands. The crown pulls out and pushes in for use.

Pros:

• Manual winding movement
• Solid gold

Cons:

• Expensive
• Leather strap is not water-resistant

The Baignoire retails for $18,300. There is a smaller version that is somewhat less expensive – the W8000003 – and a yellow gold version, W8000009. With a price this high, not many people will be able to afford it. However, if you have excess cash and are looking for a luxury watch that is beautiful to look at then the Cartier Baignoire W8000001 is one of the best choices.