When it comes to Paul Mescal, a lot of things are out of his control. Like the public obsession with the length of his shorts, or the quiet sex appeal of his tiny cardigans. Some fans also have a tendency to zoom in on his tiny little… US perfect replica Cartier watches – yes, he’s developed quite a thing for them in recent years.
Last night was one of those nights as the 29-year-old actor attended an intimate dinner to celebrate Cartier’s V&A exhibition (named ‘Cartier’ in case you were wondering). When he pulled up and posed for the cameras, watch nerds (us included) immediately perved over the holy best fake Cartier Tank à Guichets (French for ‘ticket office window’) watches on his wrist. It’s a flex that could not be better timed given all the hype around Cartier’s latest Tank à Guichets releases.
Our friends at Cartier confirmed that the Guichets Mescal is wearing is platinum and comes on a burgundy leather strap. It’s also number 001 of the 150 high quality copy watches made of this jumping hour watch and was create in 1996 – which just so happens to be Mescal’s birth year – to commemorate Cartier’s 150th anniversary and it was released in 1997.
“We really wanted to celebrate Cartier’s innovative craftsmanship,” says Mescal’s stylist Felicity Kay. “I love thinking about how this cheap super clone watches would have been seen as a futuristic concept back in the 1920s – and how beautifully it has aged. It feels so timeless now.”
Mescal has worn some of Cartier’s sickest (and smallest) watches in the past, including online replica Cartier Tank Mini watches and Cartier Baignoire watches on the Gladiator 2 press tour, so the quirky-looking Guichets is right up his street. “It’s very much in the world of watches that Paul has worn historically. It’s so elegant. Paul has worn a lot of vintage Cartier in the past and while this one was issued in 1996 and not vintage, the Tank à Guichets is a 1928 design,” says Kay. “It was produced the year Paul was born, which made it an extra special choice.”
The 1996 version clocks in at 25.5mm by 37mm, so it’s a little bigger than the teeny tiny gems he’s pulled out before. But this shop fake Cartier watches are special. Like really, really special. The Tank à Guichets is covered in elite-level Cartier lore. We’re talking Crash-tier love, but with less Hollywood hype (for now, at least). When the OG dropped in 1928, it was the pinnacle of futuristic art deco design. And it was pretty revolutionary, sacking off Cartier’s Roman numeral dial for a jumping hour display, hiding the hour and minute displays, which sit on revolving disks hidden within a gold case. The hour is exposed through a digit sized window or ‘guichet,’ which means ticket office in French.
There were a few one-offs made throughout the 1930s. Then it lay dormant until 1996 where it was introduced in gold, rose gold, and platinum versions. It’s only been reissued twice before, and the OG models were supposedly only made in a production run of 400 pieces. Usually, it’s the pre 1970s Cartier that that really wets collectors’ whistles (at this time Cartier boutiques in London, Paris, and New York were producing location-limited pieces with stamped dials). But given just how limited the top replica Cartier Tank à Guichets watches are, and the fact that it has been revisited so few times, Mescal’s 1996 model is packing the same kind of collector-seducing fire power.
It’s a rarity that means they cruise past the £450k mark when they come up for sale (which doesn’t happen very often) and has hardcore Cartier heads scouring watch collections and auctions around the world. It explains why there has been so much buzz around US AAA fake Cartier watches’ new Privé Tank à Guichets collection in gold, platinum, and rose gold – which is already laying claim to being the most hyped watch releases of the year.
Paul Mescal is pretty familiar with killer Cartier watches so the obvious flex might have been to wear one of the 2025 Guichets. By choosing the second official re-issue of the luxury copy Cartier Tank à Guichets from watches his birth year though, he’s trumped the hype completely, securing his big Cartier daddy crown.
