cheich.com This domain is for sale

cheich.com

This domain is for sale

Four Cheich watches were made. Only one was ever awarded, and in 2022 it sold for about US$978,000. The white-gold No. 1 followed to auction in Hong Kong, estimated at up to US$5.1 million. Two rest in Cartier’s archive; one is lost. The name is the only Cheich still within reach: six letters, one word, a .com.

Sold, Sotheby’s Paris, 2022
US$978,000
Rahier’s Cheich (€1,003,000)
Estimate, Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2026
US$1M to 5.1M
White-gold No. 1 (HK$8M to 40M)
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The gold Cheich wristwatch on a burgundy leather strap, lying on white marble
Fig. 1The Cheich awarded to Gaston Rahier in 1985, in 18k yellow gold.

History and heritage

A veil from the Sahara, a race across it, and the gold watch that joined the two.

cheich

noun

The long veil worn by Tuareg men, wound around the head and drawn across the face against sun and sand.

  1. Sahara

    A cloth against sun and sand

    In the central Sahara, Tuareg men cover the head and face with a long veil they call the tagelmust. French speakers call it the cheich. When the Paris-Dakar rally chose an emblem, it chose a veiled Tuareg head.

  2. 1978

    Lost, then a race

    In 1977 Thierry Sabine lost his way in the Libyan desert during the Abidjan-Nice rally. He came back with a plan for a race from Paris to Dakar, straight across the Sahara. The first Paris-Dakar left Paris on 26 December 1978: about 10,000 kilometres, open to motorcycles, cars and trucks.

    Fig. 2Thierry Sabine, founder of the Paris-Dakar. Photo: Tony Frank.

  3. 1983

    A prize that could not be bought

    Cartier announced the Cartier Challenge. Anyone who won the same class of the Paris-Dakar two years running would receive a trophy, and the trophy would be a wristwatch rather than a cup.

    Alain-Dominique Perrin, then president of Cartier, and the designer Jacques Diltoer drew it with Sabine, after the rally’s veiled emblem. Four were made: a man’s and a woman’s watch in 1983, one for Sabine, and one for the next winner.

  4. 1985

    Twice across the Sahara

    Gaston Rahier, a Belgian motocross champion riding a BMW, won the motorcycle class in 1984 and again in 1985. Perrin handed him the Cheich in person. No one else ever received one.

    Fig. 3A Paris-Dakar rider with Tuareg men in the Sahara. Photo: Auto Hebdo.

  5. 1986

    The challenge ends

    Sabine was killed in a helicopter crash during the 1986 rally, and the Cartier Challenge ended with him. The watch made for the next winner was never awarded. Two Cheich watches stayed in Cartier’s archive. Where Sabine’s is now, nobody knows.

  6. 2010

    A fifth, in white gold

    For Giorgio Seragnoli, co-author of the book Cartier Bianco and owner of a celebrated collection of white-metal Cartier, the house made one more Cheich: white gold, 38 × 27 mm, engraved No. 1. Cartier is said to have turned down every similar request since.

    Fig. 4The white-gold Cheich made in 2010.

  7. 2022

    First time at auction

    After 37 years with Rahier and his family, his Cheich became the first ever offered at auction. Sotheby’s Paris estimated it at about US$195,000 to US$390,000. It drew 18 bids and sold for about US$978,000 (€1,003,000) on 30 September 2022.

    Fig. 5Rahier’s Cheich, photographed before the sale.

  8. 2026

    No. 1 in Hong Kong

    In September 2026 the white-gold No. 1 went to auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, estimated at about US$1 million to US$5.1 million (HK$8 million to HK$40 million).

    Fig. 6The caseback, engraved 2010 No. 1.

  9. Today

    The name

    The watches are spoken for. The name is not.

    This domain is for sale

History and heritageThis domain is for sale

The Cheich photographed face on. The case measures approximately 38 by 24 millimetres. 38 mm 24 mm
Fig. 7Face on, with the approximate case dimensions given by Sotheby’s.

A case with no straight edge

The gold folds over the dial the way the veil folds over a face, then hangs off the lower edge like the loose end of the cloth.

The dial keeps to the shape of the case and carries the railway minute track that Cartier used in Paris.

Made
c. 1983, for the Cartier Challenge
Case
18k yellow gold, approx. 38 × 24 mm
Movement
Manual winding, calibre FE 664
Dial
White, Roman numerals, railway minute track
Crown
Beaded, set with a blue cabochon
Strap
Leather, 18k gold Cartier buckle

From the Sotheby’s catalogue for Rahier’s watch, Paris, 2022.

The watchThis domain is for sale

Close-up of the gold Cheich: the folded case, Roman numeral dial, railway minute track, blue hands and cabochon crown
Fig. 8Dial and case, numbered.
  1. 1Folds of yellow gold, with no straight edge.
  2. 2Roman numerals at XII, III, VI and IX.
  3. 3The railway minute track of Cartier Paris.
  4. 4Blued hands.
  5. 5Beaded crown with a blue cabochon.
Fig. 9In profile, the folds continue round the case.
Fig. 10No conventional lugs. Tubes and screws hold the strap.
Fig. 11Calibre FE 664, wound by hand.

DetailsThis domain is for sale

Six letters, one word, two histories

cheich.com is one word on a .com. One history is the desert veil. The other is the watch: a prize that could not be bought, awarded once, and sold at auction in 2022 for nearly US$1 million. Whoever builds on the name starts with both.

It would suit

  • a watch or jewellery house
  • a journal or archive about collectible watches
  • a label for scarves and woven textiles
  • travel and expeditions in the Sahara

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