CARTIER, TORTUE MONOPOUSSOIR REF. 2396B, A GOLD MANUAL-WINDING MONOPUSHER CHRONOGRAPH

The Tortue Monopusher chronograph is part of the Collection Privée Cartier Paris (CPCP), a collection of watches based on historic Cartier designs but equipped with modern mechanical movements. Its design is based on the first Tortue created by Louis Cartier in 1912 and was aimed mainly at the men’s market. The watches in the CPCP collection were available between 1998 and 2008, albeit in very limited numbers.

A hallmark of this collection was the fact that the movements were made by external agents – this particular model is powered by Caliber 045MC, produced by THA Èbauche, a movement manufacture founded by three visionary modern watchmakers Vianney Halter, F.P. Journe, and Dennis Flageollet (co-founder of DeBethune).

The movement features a lateral clutch system with a swivel pin. One of the features of this movement is the smooth gliding motion of the chronograph seconds hand across the dial. There is no ‘jolt’ or skipping of the hand at the beginning thanks the double swivel pin.

The present watch has a sophisticated guilloche dial with blued steel Breguet-style hands and a blue minute track and grey numerals.