Sure, Analog:Shift is a business built around the love of watches — mostly mechanical watches. But, in essence, it’s our love for timepieces and timekeeping in general that are the common themes throughout the items we procure. And that includes the love of clocks in general: pocket watches, travel clocks, and more. 

After all, in the couple hundred years before the First World War, personal timekeeping was all about the pocket watch, and before that, it was larger clocks that were front and center, horologically. We still believe a good clock — such as a classic travel model from the 1920s or 1930s — has a place in the watch lover’s collection.

This particular timepiece is a vintage travel alarm clock from none other than Cartier. Part of the Must de Cartier collection, it’s a Swiss-made, mechanical beauty from the 1980s, a time when quartz-powered watches were all the rage. Housed in a 4” x 3” x 1.8” brass and red acrylic case with an acrylic crystal and a yellow gold bezel, it features a gloss white dial with Roman indices, an outer ‘railroad’ minute track, a blued steel ‘sword’ handset, and a white alarm indicator hand. 

Wound and set via the back, the clock can be propped up on a nightstand, desk, or dresser to loudly rouse you from your nightly slumber. (And extra points to someone who uses it as originally intended — that is, as an actual travel clock!) A beautiful design object, it also includes its red leather Cartier box. 

Could you use your phone to wake you up each morning? Sure. Would that be easier and more convenient? Yes. But if charm and a sense of history are important to you, then you know what to do.