{"product_id":"cartier-tortue-monopusher-chronograph-as01747","title":"Cartier Tortue Monopusher Chronograph","description":"\u003cp\u003eThough Cartier has produced some fine mechanical watches during its 170 year history (like the perennial favorite, the \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/shop.analogshift.com\/collections\/cartier\/products\/cartier-tank-louis\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Cartier Tank Louis\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eTank\u003c\/a\u003e), by the mid-90s the brand was known primarily as a producer of quartz watches. In an effort to rejuvenate their status as a premier manufacture, in 1998 Cartier launched the \u003cem\u003eCollection Privée Cartier Paris\u003c\/em\u003e, or CPCP for short. The \u003cem\u003eCollection Privée \u003c\/em\u003eresurrected classic wristwatch designs from the Cartier archives and utilized high-grade mechanical movements from the likes of Piaget, \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/shop.analogshift.com\/collections\/jaeger-lecoultre\/products\/jaeger-lecoultre-geophysic-limited-edition-box-and-papers\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic 1958 Box and Papers\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eJaeger-LeCoultre\u003c\/a\u003e, and Girard-Perregaux. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis particular watch, the Tortue Monopusher (or, pardon our French, the \u003cem\u003eMono \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003ePoussoir\u003c\/em\u003e), uses a case design Cartier conceived in the 1920s--the Tortue. While their Tank collections had a number of varying case shapes (Française, Louis, Cintrée or \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/shop.analogshift.com\/collections\/cartier-sold\/products\/cartier-basculante-mecanique\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Cartier Tank Basculante Mecanique\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eBasculante\u003c\/a\u003e, just to name a few) the Tortue is a different look entirely. Its sensuous curves lent itself well to use in many different watches, from time-only to complicated ones, including the original monopusher chronograph in 1928. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Cartier released the first series of the \u003cem\u003eCollection Privée \u003c\/em\u003e1998, the Tortue Monopusher was among the first in the line. In keeping with the spirit of collaboration that Cartier had always employed in supplying movements for its watches, the brand relied on an outside party for the movement of the Monopusher. Rather than Cartier's Richemont stablemate, JLC, the brand entrusted a company called THA Èbauche.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWho might that be, you wonder? None other than \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/contrapante.com\/watches\/classic\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Vianney-Halter Classic\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eVianney Halter\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/contrapante.com\/watches\/octa-automatique\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"F.P. Journe Octa Automatique\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eFrançois-Paul Journe\u003c\/a\u003e, and Denis Flagolet, who would later go on to form \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/contrapante.com\/watches\/dbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"De Bethune DBS\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eDe Bethune\u003c\/a\u003e. While we're not certain of Journe's hand in developing the Caliber 045MC caliber, his role in THA Èbauche is doubtless. And Flagolet later used the caliber in a monopusher designed for De Bethune, cementing the Tortue Monopusher's place among the greats of \u003cem\u003ehaute horlogerie\u003c\/em\u003e and giving it just that little bit of credit among fans of independent watchmakers alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe byword of the Tortue Monopusher is elegance, from the curves of the case to the incredible guilloché dial and blued steel hands. The movement, glimpsed through a sapphire exhibition case back, is a work of art in and of itself, beautifully finished to the highest order. And though a chronograph by its nature is meant for use in sports timing, the slim profile of the case--and the fact that the movement relies on a single pusher to operate it--makes it perhaps the only chronograph that looks best when peeking out from under the cuff of a bespoke suit. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis particular example is in incredible condition, coming from the private collection of a prominent New York City based collector.  Accompanied by its original box and books, this piece is without question a Cartier of the next degree, and as our friends at HODINKEE said a few years back, the Tortue \u003ca href=\"offers%20a%20ton%20of%20bang%20for%20the%20buck!\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Analog\/Shift X Hodinkee Cartier Tortue Monopusher Chronograph\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eoffers a ton of bang for the buck!\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cartier","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":28335166401,"sku":null,"price":16500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0809\/1255\/products\/Cartier_Tortue_Monopusher_Chronograph_2356_AS01747_2.jpg?v=1499979417","url":"https:\/\/www.analogshift.com\/products\/cartier-tortue-monopusher-chronograph-as01747","provider":"Analog:Shift","version":"1.0","type":"link"}