For those of you who thought the Cartier moment was passed—think again. From the avant-garde Crash to the iconic Tank Normale, the Parisian jeweler’s wares have seemingly never been hotter.

But then in London, Jean-Jacques Cartier contributed to this little flurry of interest in watchmaking, and this is where the Crash, the Maxi Oval, the Pebble and all those other London models come ...