Das sind wir » Cartier Tortue Monopusher Chronograph

Since 2017, Cartier has dutifully reissued one of its classic shapes as part of its Audemars Privé collection. This year, one of the oldest took its turn: the Tortue. Originally introduced in 1912 but also well-known for its neo-vintage era monopusher chronograph, the 2024 Tortue selection plays on both of these eras, featuring both two-handers and chronographs that should leave Cartier enthusiasts satisfied. Cartier introduced the Tortue in 1912 (French for "turtle"), making it older than almost any Cartier shape except the actual Santos-Dumont (1904). By the twenties, Cartier was adding complications like monopushers and minute repeaters to the shape, some of the first examples of Cartier blending its singular style with mechanical innovation. The Caouane Monopusher, Cartier's first wathe, was a dainty proposition featuring calibers from European Watch & Clock Co., a joint venture between Cartier as well as Edmund Jaeger (Jaeger-LeCoultre). These early chronographs are extremely rare: less than 15 or so have ever surfaced.

For 2024, Cartier's brought this history back in a collection of limited models: each of the chronograph watches and two-handers is limited to 200 using pieces within each metal - platinum eagle or platnium. There's also a diamond-set platinum version limited to 50 pieces that we didn't get to see except through a display case.

The return of the Tortue monopusher (monopoussoir, inside French) timepiece is most exciting. The gold or us platinum case measures 43. 7mm x thrity four. 8mm and also 10. 2mm thick, about the same size as the CPCP Monopusher. That said, the case looks to have been slightly reworked and I think it looks better. I think it's because the shape pinches more at the lugs, giving the particular polished case just a bit much more shape.

Both dials have a Roman numeral track separated by large subdials. The actual numerals on the platinum edition are raised and rhodium-plated, while on typically the yellow gold, they're black and printed. Both have blued Breguet-style hands.
The watch dial design of each is well executed. Audemars has certainly looked a lot more towards those extremely uncommon 1920s Tortue monopushers with regard to inspiration than the later CPCP. The design feels cleaner and more balanced compared to those neo-vintage CPCP chronographs. Both situation metals possess blued Breguet-style hands that contrast nicely against the opaline dial. To me, the yellow gold dial much more successful, with the Roman quantities offering the contrast that the monochromatic american platinum eagle execution doesn't have. Cartier made similar monochromatic choices along with last year's Tank Regolare. Oddly, it does not take second year in a row I've preferred the platnium Privé offering to the gold.
The monopusher's sapphire caseback reveals often the manufacture caliber 1928MC, a new movement that's a column wheel chronograph together with Côtes de Genève decoration on the connections. It beats at 4 Hz and has a 44-hour power reserve. The particular hand-wound movement is noticeably reworked compared to the 1998 quality and reliability that was built by THA, the Èbauche, the joint-venture of watchmakers Vianney Halter, Danis Flageolet (De Bethune), and F. P. Journe.
Most notably, the exact caliber is now shaped to match the turns of the Caouane shape. It also features a few of the finishing you'd expect for a $50, 000-plus chronograph, including curved Geneva stripes along with beveled links.

The platinum monopusher has a price of €53, 000, while the yellow gold is €46, 000. It's a well-executed, faithful update of the Tortue. And while there's certainly competition and you may find more innovative chronographs around, few blend aesthetics in addition to technical as well as Cartier.
Meanwhile, Cartier also released platinum eagle and gold time-only models to fill out the Caouane collection. Each measure forty-one. 4mm by 32. 9mm, noticeably larger than, say, last year's Tank Normale. I will prefer a touch smaller, but I have to admit they looked just fine on a few different wrist sizes (including mine) during our Cartier meeting.

Like the monopushers, both feature an off-white opaline dial. Again, I prefer the black numerals within the yellow gold model, though as these pictures show you, at certain angles the very raised figures do provide additional contrast.
Unlike the main CPCP two-hander Tortues, these are flat dials and don't function any guilloché, which, in addition to displaying any continued commitment to a traditional technique (see Rolex 1908), would've additionally helped in order to fill out the top dial. That said, the switch is cleaned up when compared to CPCP's, far more reminiscent of some sort of 1970s Tortue, where the railway track will be shifted to the not in the dial.

On both, I wish Cartier would've kept blued Breguet-style hands instead of matching them to the case color, though I'm glad they kept the hand style and didn't swap regarding simpler epée hands. Both are delivered on an alligator strap with us platinum or gold buckle. Inside is Cartier's commonly-used competence 430 MC, based on a new manual wind Piaget grade that is better than at 3 Hz using 38-hour power reserve.

Both time-only Tortues are successful dress watches which add to the growing lineage of Cartier's modern Privé lineup.
Overall, this year's Caouane collection is a successful up-date of one associated with Cartier's oldest shapes. It pulls elements from every era from the Tortue: nineteen twenties, '70s, plus '90s, to arrive at something that's modern however rooted in history. While we've come to expect a Privé release like this every year since 2017, the actual return of a monopusher time counter is the perfect example of how Cartier continues to surprise and even delight its collectors.