This exquisite ‘Collection Privée Cartier Paris’ Tortue Monopoussoir is a modern interpretation of one of the most enduring and iconic Cartier designs known to date.

The Tortue was first launched in 1912 and the third wristwatch ever designed by Cartier, even predating the famous Tank by a handful of years. As some of you might be able to tell, it draws its inspiration from a tortoiseshell. Initially introduced as a time-only piece, but after some time the Parisian house rapidly went on and created more complicated versions of this design. The Monopoussoir was introduced in 1998, which happens to be the same year that the Collection Privée was launched.

It runs on the Calibre 045MC, a movement developed by F.P. Journe, Denis Flageollet, and Vianney Halter as part of THA Èbauche, a collaborative movement manufacture. Later one these big names went on to venture for themselves and create some other magnificent movements in watches we admire today. Due to the sapphire case-back we can admire the aesthetically pleasing movement which is beautifully engraved with the Cartier-logo all over.

Now to the star of the show is undeniably the dial. Fitted in the elegant 18k yellow gold case, measuring a subtle 33 by 34 mm (43mm when you measure lug to lug) and is only 10 mm in thickness. The dial is made out of 18k gold and hand engraved in the typical rose motif. The guilloché dial is signed with 'Cartier Paris' at 12 o'clock which obviously refers to the time when the city names were inscribed below the brand. There are two sub-dials; the left showing the running seconds and the right shows us a 30 minute chronograph timer. We can see both Roman numerals and Arabic numerals being used accompanied by our favorite; blued steel hands that are executed in a Breguet-styled shape.

Our example dates back to ca. 1998, making it one of the earlier examples and is ready to be enjoyed by its new owner.