Cartier Tortue, 2010s

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

In an effort to rejuvenate their status as a premier manufacture , in 1998 Cartier launched the Collection Privée Cartier Paris, or CPCP for short. The Collection Privée resurrected classic wristwatch designs from the Cartier archives and utilized high-grade mechanical movements from the likes of Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Girard-Perregaux. One watch that received the “reissue” treatment was the Tortue. Conceived in 1912, the Torture featured an entirely different silhouette than that of the more traditional Tank. While their Tank collection grew to include a number of shapes — Française, Louis, Cintrée, and Basculante, just to name a few — the Tortue stood out with its sensuous, tortoise-inspired curves that lent themselves well to many different watches, from time-only models to more involved complications. Though all iterations are excellent, we’d argue that it’s the time-only versions that paint the most elegant picture. This particular Tortue, a Reference W1556362-3700, dates to the 2010s. Housed in a 31mm 18K rose gold tonneau case with a sapphire crystal, a smooth bezel, and a blue cabochon crown, it features a shimmering guilloche white dial with painted black ‘Roman’ indices, an inner chemin de fer minute track, and a classic blued steel handset. Powered by a manually wound movement, it comes paired to a beautiful alligator leather strap with matching ardillon pin buckle. A beautiful alternative to the Tank, the Tortue is a gorgeous piece of design in any format. This gold example, however, exists on an entirely different plane. Classic in its proportions and beautifully balanced, it’s an easy sell no matter the wrist.