The small Ballon Bleu, with diamonds the listing forgot to mention.

Cartier sells the 28mm Ballon Bleu in steel with a plain bezel and with a bezel set with diamonds, and the two differ by a lot of money. Rebag’s listing describes this one as a steel quartz Ballon Bleu 28 and stops there; the listing photograph shows the diamond bezel, a full ring of small brilliant-cut stones around the crystal. In Cartier’s catalogue that is W4BB0015. The photograph is of the actual unit, so the stones are there, but the seller has not written them down, so ask Rebag to confirm the reference and that the diamonds are factory-set before buying.

Everything else is the Ballon Bleu at its smallest: the polished pebble case, the crown guard flowing out of the right side with the blue cabochon tucked into it, the silver guilloche dial with Roman numerals and blued sword hands. At 28mm it sits like a bracelet with a dial rather than a watch.

Rebag gives the case at 28mm and 10mm thick, the band at 14mm, a wrist size of about six and a half inches, steel case and bracelet, a dial colour of neutral, a quartz movement, the condition as Very Good with minor scratches and wear on the case and band, and a dated warranty card. It does not give the reference and does not mention the stones. The diamond bezel, the dial and the bracelet here come from the listing photograph; water resistance is Cartier’s published figure.

Nothing here was measured on this unit. The warranty card will carry the reference and the date; ask for both, and ask when the battery was last changed.

This unit is sold by Rebag through Amazon Luxury Stores, authenticated by the seller with Amazon’s 30-day return window on top; it is one piece, and when it sells the listing goes away, so the second button opens the live search for 28mm Ballon Bleus.

Diamond-bezel Ballon Bleus have resold for under new and close to what pre-owned buyers paid, sometimes more, sometimes less; that is a pattern, not a promise, and nothing here is investment advice.