The Inspiration Behind The Only Cartier Watch To Be Named After a Woman, Maria Felix

Once upon a time, Mexican icon Maria Felix walked into the Cartier store carrying a baby crocodile that inspired decades of couture jewelry and watch collections.

Maria Felix, a diva, an icon, a true flame, reigned Spanish cinema in the 40s and 50s, with over 47 films emblemizing her in history. She famously never learned English to avoid being typecast in Hollywood (major) but the little French she learned came in handy when she and her third husband, Swiss businessman Alexander Berger, moved to Paris.

At this point, snake jewelry was her M.O. and her eccentric style made waves across Europe. In 1966, she strolled into the Cartier flagship on the rue de la Paix with her petite cocodrilo in hand. She commissioned a serpentine necklace the size of a large snake and the house of Cartier’s Swiss DNA forever has a tinge of Spanish in it.

This moment snowballed into the creation of the most evocative piece of jewelry, a diamond-encrusted double crocodile necklace. In 1975, Félix commissioned a piece inspired by the one and only live crocodile to step foot into a Cartier store.

Cartier did what Cartier does best: they took artistic liberties by covering both crocodiles with yellow diamonds and emeralds to announce the utter royalty both La Dona and her reptiles exude.

One crocodile is covered in 1023 brilliant-cut fancy intense yellow diamonds, weighing 60.02 carats in total, with emerald cabochons for the eyes. Balanced by the second crocodile covered in 1.060 emeralds, weighing 66.86 carats in total, with two ruby cabochon eyes, grounds the necklaces with a subtly asymmetry.

Each crocodile can be worn as a brooch and the inner feet have been replaced with motifs that look like tucked-in feet to prevent injury. Read that again.

The La Dona watch was launched in 2006 after her namesake and is the only watch, next to the Santos, to be named after a person.

The trapezoid case is akin to a crocodile’s head while the links were inspired by reptilian scales.The asymmetry of the case and integrated bracelet represent feminine curves on a masculine bracelet and is Cartier’s “contemporary translation of the eccentric personality of a great woman.”

The Panthere De Cartier, with her feline flexibility and timeless allure, maybe Cartier’s most-known timepiece, worn by celebrities and influencers alike. The animalistic, provocative nature of Cartier’s design language is no coincidence for the women’s line, but the sex appeal of the La Dona is severely underrated.

The watch comes in stainless steel, yellow gold, and various crocodile leather strap options, and I currently lust after the pink ostrich leather one. Although, one could argue the leather strap defeats the distinct construction of the bracelet. The intertwined scales seem like a manipulated Cuban link chain, which aptly pairs with layers of bracelets.

Whether this was done on purpose – I speculate that Felix was a stacker – or if it’s just sheer fluke, this gives the Panthere a run for its money. I know they’ve both sunk their teeth in me and it’s the type of bite only a beautiful woman could get away with.

Here is what mine looks like on my itty bitty wrist. She was a gift from my parents for my engagement. The story is that I had gotten two of my friends onto this and I sourced two for them. I had a severely hard time parting with them and now I can say I don’t have to. She’s my good luck charm and my little relic of a glamor past.