The following article was produced in partnership with Cartier.
Now in its eighth edition, Cartier Privé is the French Luxury brand’s annual event for watchmaking enthusiasts. Throughout the years it has welcomed rare watches such as the Crash, the Tank Cintrée and the Tonneau, but this week at Watches & Wonders, Cartier have added one of the oldest and most prestigious pieces in its library to the collection.
First introduced in 1912, the Cartier Tortue can be considered older than almost all other Cartier releases in its history. As the name suggests, the Cartier Tortue, French for “turtle” has a unique oval shape reminiscent of a shell, intended to exhibit a more stretched and creative profile some years after the iconic square Santos-Dumont was released in 1904.
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At the time, the Tortue’s assymetrical shape and curved case became quite popular amongst a sea of traditional round dials, and now, more than 100 years later, the legendary French Maison has reinvented this perpetual piece for contemporary Cartier collectors.
Presented in its signature curved shape, the 2024 release of the Cartier Tortue Monopoussoir Chronograph is avalable in either platinum or yellow gold case, with a slightly larger diameter of 43.7mm. Through the sapphire case-back, you’ll see Cartier have debuted a bespoke Manufacture 1928 MC calibre, which, at 4.3mm thick, is the Maison’s thinnest chronograph, and has a power reseve of 44 hours.
Both models feature a a silver opaline dial with blued-steel apple-shaped hands, a hollowed-out central seconds hand and triangular motifs on the four corners of the dial. The platinum model has Cartier’s iconic combination of a faceted crown with a ruby cabochon, whilst the grained gold model boasts a sapphire cabochon.
With only 200 pieces meticulously crafted in each metal, the Cartier Tortue Monopoussoir Chronograph pays homage to the Maison’s rich heritage of innovation; for collectors, this limited release is a chance to acquire a piece of watchmaking royalty.