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The Cartier Cheich: A Rare Rally Trophy Watch Sold for €1,003,000

Cartier’s Cheich was a sculptural gold trophy for the Paris-Dakar Rally. Gaston Rahier earned his by winning in consecutive years; Sotheby’s later reported a €1,003,000 sale result.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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The Cartier Cheich is a sculptural gold trophy watch made for the Paris-Dakar Rally’s Cartier Challenge—not a standard retail model. Belgian rider Gaston Rahier earned the watch by winning the rally in 1984 and 1985 in the same vehicle category. Sotheby’s reports that Rahier’s example sold in September 2022 for €1,003,000, after a pre-sale estimate of €200,000–€400,000.

What is the Cartier Cheich?

The Cheich is an unusual Cartier watch created as a prize for the Cartier Challenge at the Paris-Dakar Rally. According to Fratello’s 2022 account, Cartier CEO Alain Dominique Perrin approached rally founder Thierry Sabine around the event’s fifth running, in 1983. The challenge offered the watch to a competitor who won in consecutive years using the same category of vehicle. Fratello’s account of the watch and its background

The design turns the trophy’s connection to the rally into its defining feature. The case evokes the silhouetted Tuareg figure in the rally logo and the traditional head covering called a cheich. Fratello describes the case as white, rose, and yellow 18-karat gold, with a dress-watch dial set into the folds. It has a rectangular minute track, baton and Roman numeral markers, and a blue cabochon crown. Rather than attaching a conventional strap to projecting lugs, the leather strap passes through the back of the case. The original strap and bespoke presentation box were reported with Rahier’s watch; the box bears “Trophee Paris Alger Dakar” in gold script.

Why did Gaston Rahier receive it?

Rahier, a Belgian motorcycle rider, won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1984 and again in 1985. Fratello reports that he met the Cartier Challenge’s consecutive-win requirement and received the Cheich as his prize. It was therefore a trophy tied to a specific achievement, not a model offered to ordinary watch buyers.

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Fratello says the challenge ended after Sabine died in a helicopter crash in Mali during the 1986 event. That account helps explain why the Cheich is linked to a particular episode in the rally’s history rather than an ongoing prize program.

How many Cartier Cheich watches were made?

The best-qualified answer is that three examples were reported as known in Fratello’s 2022 account—not that an undisputed manufacturing record proves exactly three were made. Fratello identified Rahier’s award, a watch intended for a potential female winner, and a third made in 1985 for another person who achieved the challenge; it said the other two were in Cartier’s historical collection. The same article mentioned speculation about a possible fourth example associated with Hubert Auriol, but said it was considered lost if it existed. Sotheby’s has used the less exact description “only a handful of examples.” Fratello’s reported count and qualification

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That distinction matters: “one of only three known” reflects the published account, while “exactly three ever made” states more than the available evidence establishes.

What did the Cartier Cheich sell for?

Fratello reported a Sotheby’s Paris pre-sale estimate of €200,000–€400,000 in its July 12, 2022 preview. Sotheby’s later reported that Rahier’s watch sold in September 2022 for €1,003,000. The estimate was the auction house’s pre-sale range; the €1,003,000 figure is Sotheby’s retrospective report of the realized result. Fratello’s 2022 estimate · Sotheby’s retrospective and reported result

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The result is specific to this trophy watch and this sale. It is not a general benchmark for Cartier watches or evidence of a predictable investment return.

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What makes the Cheich collectible?

The Cheich combines an uncommon case design with a documented sporting purpose and a known connection to Rahier’s back-to-back victories. Sotheby’s identifies case shape, dial originality, proportion, material, condition, provenance, and production rarity as useful axes for assessing collectible Cartier watches. These are comparison factors, not a formal appraisal of Rahier’s example. Sotheby’s discussion of Cartier watch collecting

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  • Purpose: It was created as a challenge trophy rather than a standard retail watch.
  • Design: Its three-color gold case interprets the rally’s Tuareg figure and cheich motif, while the strap’s route through the case back departs from conventional lugs.
  • Provenance: The association with Rahier and the challenge is central to the watch’s story; supporting documentation and the completeness of accessories can matter when comparing examples.
  • Originality and condition: Dial originality and condition are relevant to collectible-watch evaluation, but the available reporting here does not provide a condition report for the auctioned watch.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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