Cartier Ferrari Formula Pushers incoming ....

[Seiko7A38]

The pushers fitted to Cartier Ferrari Formula Cal. 531 / 532 chronographs are easily damaged and sometimes get lost. Their gold-plated buttons, which are made of metal skinned resin, can get worn / dinged or knocked off. There've been a couple of threads about them on the old forum and various plaintive requests for replacements. They were obsolete and NLA as spares from Cartier years ago. They do however still turn up on for sale on eBay occasionally. IIRC, a French eBay seller, possibly ocoueredutemps listed some in February. I needed one then, to repair a project watch, but their borderline extortionate asking price was prohibitive. These two NOS pushers listed by a Hungarian eBay seller came up in one of my saved search notifications earlier this afternoon. Even with 20% VAT added, I couldn't resist at the price.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304668611357

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Proverbial rocking horse droppings.

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[Seiko7A38]

My incoming NOS Cartier Ferrari Formula chronograph pushers seemed to have been taking longer to arrive than I'd expected, so last Friday I checked the Royal Mail tracking history. Perhaps I was just being impatient (particularly in view of all the recent postal workers strikes). I was incensed to discover that my package had been presented to Customs 'for assessment' that same day (Friday 28th October).

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As far as I was concerned there was nothing to assess. When I went to checkout, eBay had automatically added 20% VAT to the ($100) Buy-it-Now price and shipping cost, giving a total of $139.20.

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The package left Langley HWDC yesterday and I was half expecting to find a card on my doormat, advising that charges had been raised (a second time). By which point I already had the relevant claim form BOR286 ready and waiting !

[Seiko7A38]

My fears were ungrounded. Late this morning, there was a knock on the front door and my regular postie handed me the package. It showed no signs of being opened and besides, the Hungarian eBay seller had stuck a CN22 Customs label on the back of the jiffy bag with a declared value of only €10 Euros.

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The pushers are NOS, but have suffered light scuffing wear to their plating, probably from rattling around against each other. They've definitely not been used before, because the shaft screwdriver slots (which measure 0.6mm) are pristine.

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These are almost certainly the correct parts. I've compared them (externally) with one of my other Ferrari Cal. 531's this morning (not the one with the missing button). Plus I've previously seen other Cartier Ferrari Formula chronograph spare parts (sets of hands, etc.), which also had part numbers beginning with F6090.

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Nice how the lettering is embossed into the lid of the box (not just printed). I noticed the name Froidevaux moulded into the end of the lid. I'm none the wiser whether they may have been the manufacturer.

[Seiko7A38]

This is the 'project watch', destined to receive one of those NOS pushers. It's a Cal. 531 model # F6104806 in average worn condition. I bought it on a whim, off eBay Germany back in September 2021 and although I initially considered fitting a pusher button from a Junghans Hi-Tech Chrono, I'd held off, because the movement also has some issues.

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[Seiko7A38]

This is the 'project watch', destined to receive one of those NOS pushers.

I probably should qualify that. The project watch will get a replacement pusher, but it won't necessarily be one of the two NOS pushers. I need to check though all my Cal. 531's to see if any have dinged or worn pusher buttons and might be more deserving. One watch that I can already think of, without checking, which will definitely be receiving one of the new pusher buttons is this F6424403, which I bought in October 2020 (full story here on the old forum). The badly discoloured plating of the 2 o'clock pusher button sticks out like a sore thumb.

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