Thy Kingdom Come (1981)

Peter Bart's novel of the Mormon Church was published by Linden Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, in 1981. The Apostles have put the industrialist Dana Sloat in charge of the Church's financial and political affairs, and Eliza Hastings, one of the few women of standing in the Church, must take a stand against him, while her son Tad, a young lawyer, is torn between challenging Sloat and hiding. (Open Library)

Watches

Cartier (unidentified model): Christmas shopping at ZCMI in Salt Lake City, Tad stammers out to the saleswoman that he wants a watch for Pye, the girlfriend he has not yet found a present for, and, ashamed with what he calls good old Mormon shame, points at the lowest-priced Cartier and has it gift-wrapped. On Christmas morning his wife, Nancy, unwraps the Cartier watch Tad had originally bought for Pye (p. 339). The maker is named; the model is not.

Source text: The saleswoman was staring at him, impatiently awaiting his decision. “This one's fine,” he blurted, pointing at the lowest-priced Cartier. (Peter Bart, Thy Kingdom Come, scan cataloged as Linden Press (Simon & Schuster), 1981, p. 32; Internet Archive scan OCR)