Cartier's "masterpiece" is here again.
Cartier's new "turtle back" monobutton chronograph
THIS YEAR, CARTIER UNVEILED THE LATEST GENERATION OF THE "TORTOISEBACK" MONOBUTTON CHRONOGRAPH, OFFICIALLY KNOWN AS TORTUE MONOPOUSSOIR. Since 1904, when Cartier launched the world's first modern watch, in the intervening 120 years, Cartier has only launched three "turtle-back" single-button chronographs, and this watch is a "treasure" in Cartier. The details are as follows:
The gold case is priced at about RMB 380,000 and is limited to 200 pieces.
The platinum case is priced at about RMB 450,000 and is limited to 200 pieces.
Cartier's new "turtle back" monobutton chronograph, yellow gold case, platinum case.
A new generation of "turtle back" monochrome chronographs belonging to the Cartier Privé Collection. Since 2018, Cartier has revived the Privé Collection, and every year, the most important vintage watches in history have been re-optimized and re-introduced. The most heavyweight "antique" style of the year is this "turtle back" monobutton chronograph.
Cartier's new "turtle back" monobutton chronograph, platinum
The "turtle back" monobutton chronograph was first introduced in 1928 and a second in 1998.
Cartier's first modern watch, the Sandoz, was created in 1904. This was followed by the second birth in 1906 of Cartier's "Turtle Back". In 1928, Cartier introduced the first "turtle back" monobutton chronograph, with the crown also used as a chronograph pusher. Why is it a single button, because the modern two-button chronograph was not invented by Breitling until 1933. The first generation of the "Turtle's Back" monobutton chronograph, measuring 25 x 35 mm, with a chronograph movement from the joint company of Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Historically, the first "turtle back" monobutton chronograph was introduced in 1928
The second generation of the "Turtle Back" monobutton chronograph was launched in 1998. In 1998, Cartier introduced a modern "turtle back" monobutton chronograph in the CPCP Private Collection at the time, which established the general style of today. Measuring 34 x 43 mm (which is still relatively small), the 045MC calibre is a hand-wound, cylindrical wheel with oscillating gears developed by renowned independent watchmakers such as FPJ and Vianney Halter. The second generation of "turtle back" single button timer, more than 10 years ago, also entered the country, and circulated in the secondary market, among the old players, the prestige is very high.
In 1998, a second "turtle back" monochrome chronograph was launched, with a movement by a master.
This year, Cartier's third-generation "turtleback" monobutton chronograph is here.
This year, the new generation of "Turtle's Back" single-button chronograph, available in gold and platinum, is 34.8 x 43.7 mm, which is the same as the previous generation of "Turtle's Back" single button. It should be noted that for this kind of tonneau-shaped or square watch, you see that he marks 43 mm, in fact, counting the length of the lugs, the actual size of the watch, and you have to refer to the previous 34.8, so Cartier's "turtle back" single button chronograph is still a relatively small watch.
Cartier's new "turtle back" monobutton chronograph in yellow gold
"Turtle back" single-button chronograph, there is no separate bezel, the tonneau-shaped case and bezel are one. The thickness of 10.2 mm is relatively thin. The compact size is a standard dress watch.
Cartier's new "turtleback" monobutton chronograph in platinum
Single-button chronograph, the crown and chronograph button are integrated, press the crown inward, you can control the chronograph start, stop, and zero, and there are no extra buttons on the case, which is very beautiful. However, the reason why the single-button chronograph was slowly replaced later, in addition to the single-button chronograph can not be timed in sections, there is also a problem that this button is used to adjust the time and time, which is not durable, and secondly, it is not conducive to the waterproof and dustproof of the crown, so after the invention of two chronograph buttons in 1933, it was slowly replaced. It was not until later that the watch evolved into a luxury and no longer needed practicality, that it reappeared and became one of the "rare" types of chronographs.
Cartier's new "turtle back" monobutton chronograph with dial detail.
The yellow gold version has a sapphire on the crown and the platinum version has a ruby on the crown. Note that this sapphire and ruby are all real and natural. On the Cartier steel watch, on the other hand, it is a synthetic blue spinel, not a real gemstone.
Yellow gold case model with a sapphire crown.
The dial of the new generation of "turtle back" single-button chronograph is the same as that of the previous generation, with some minor adjustments. Binocular chronograph counters, bigger than ever. The previous generation had a guilloché pattern in the center of the dial, but the new model has removed the guilloché pattern. The new gold case has printed hour markers, and the platinum case has metal hour markers. The record pattern in the binocular chronograph counters, the blued fish-eye hands, both are identical. In addition, the "triangle" decoration pattern at the four corners of the dial has been carried over from the 1928 vintage watch to the present day.
Subdial with record decoration.
The third generation of "turtle back" monobutton chronograph, the biggest change, in the movement.
For CPCP and Privé's private collections of these "top" models, Cartier is absolutely "ruthless" in terms of movements, and the quality is directly full. In 1998, the second generation of "turtle's back" single-button chronograph, the movement was made by the master, and today's third-generation "turtle's back" single-button is also a specially developed special movement - 1928MC movement.
Cartier's new "turtleback" monobutton chronograph uses the 1928MC manual chronograph movement
The 1928MC is a tonneau-shaped movement that is specifically designed to match the "turtle back" case. The second generation of "turtle back" single buttons used round movements, and the third generation directly developed tonneau-shaped movements, which is no exaggeration to say that in today's world of luxury watches, it is extremely rare.
From the top right to the bottom left, the five gears are: the running second wheel, the second wheel clutch gear, the central chronograph second wheel, the minute wheel clutch gear, and the chronograph minute wheel.
The new 1928MC calibre is a hand-wound, cylindrical wheel with a horizontal and balanced movement, with a classical construction. The five gears of the chronograph second wheel, the second wheel clutch gear, the central chronograph second wheel, the minute wheel clutch wheel, and the chronograph minute wheel are clearly visible in a line in the middle of the movement. A large number of levers, surrounded by a 6-petal columnar wheel, are staggered in height. These constructions can only be found in the most expensive chronographs. In addition to the classical construction and sophisticated decoration, we can also see that under the balance wheel, there is a blue-purple silicon pallet fork, which helps to prevent magnetic fields and improve the escapement efficiency (reduce friction). It can be seen that the latest watchmaking technology, Cartier is also equipped.
Cylindrical wheel
Balance, visible blue-purple silicon pallet fork below the balance wheel.
Cartier launched the "Right Time" at the "Right Time".
In 1998, Cartier CPCP launched the second generation of "turtle back" single button, the trend of famous watches at that time was the pursuit of self-produced movements and complex movements, and the second generation of "turtle back" single button with excellent single-button chronograph movement came out, accurately hitting the trend; This is why Cartier has had works of great value in every historical period.
Cartier's new "turtleback" monobutton chronograph features a gold case on the top and a platinum case on the bottom.
Cartier's "turtleback" monobutton chronograph, objectively speaking, is not a watch for most players, only a very small number of people are eligible to buy this watch, but this does not prevent us from learning about it, knowing a complete Cartier that has both a blue balloon and a private collection of Privé. (Photo/Text: Watch House, Yan Danping)