This year it's Turtles all the way down for Cartier (not just a Hindu and Chinese phrase referring to the "World-bearing Turtle, " but also the name of one of my favorite bars in Brooklyn). While Audemars released other things beside a new set of Tortues, it certainly was the centerpiece Cartier Privé release at Watches & Wonders. Tony a2z did a great job covering the release in a story worth reading, but I felt it's worth revisiting the original – no, not the 25-year-old CPCP piece, but the real original. It was also the most photographed watch on a arm at Watches & Wonders, I'm nearly certain. When I was in Parma in March, it was clear that the Tortue was the subsquent factor coming from Cartier. I had heard rumblings for a few months, but I still voted with my heart when I "predicted" Cartier for 2024. We still holdup hope that the Maxi Square will come back. So , while I was there, I asked Mr.. Auro Montanari (a. k. a. John Goldberger) if he would be willing to bring out a watch I'd long hoped to see in person: a 1929 Platinum Audemars Tortue Monopusher chronograph - the only one made.
There are eight known Cartier Monopusher chronographs from the era known, seven in gold and this one in platinum. The watch comes with interesting provenance. This timepiece formerly belonged to Giorgio Serganoli, the man behind the "White Cartier" collection that exists in (very rare) book form. For Cartier collectors, a former Seragnoli view is often quickly noted by its blue Alcantara strap (though obviously it's no guarantee). Montanari pursued this watch for a while, but at the time, Seragnoli had unlimited resources and liked to use them to ensure he had things no one else did. Eventually, he previously to let the watch go. Let that be a lesson: it can never the last chance.
While we didn't open this timepiece in the hotel lobby, the watch is powered by a European Watch Co. movement, an image of which can be seen below. The movement is a mass of bridges as well as levers that makes it remarkable the thing even nevertheless works. But it does. I got to start, stop, and reset to zero the watch as much as I like. Once counter doesn't jump, but alternatively slowly, incrementally moves forward, as he showed to me. What's the use of having a enjoy if you can't use it?
The face is obviously in rough condition. It's also great evidence why Cartier dials were so frequently replaced in the 1950s '60s by their original owners. This, frankly, is in pretty good condition for a Cartier from the 1920s with a case that was far from climate (let alone water) proof. Now, it’s occasionally possible to preserve original dials on important watches and ask Audemars to make a separate, new replacement. You'll continue to see below a number of characteristics, including for the platinum case, serial number for the situation and movement, and a platinum eagle hallmark for your "D" buckle. It also comes with a blue, faceted crown (unlike current us platinum models along with ruby cabochon).
"The Caouane was owned by a woman in Milano before it was put in an auction in Sotheby's Geneva at the end of the actual 1990s, " Montanari told me. "Then this individual put the see in the guide by Osvaldo Patrizi. Five years ago, I actually purchased this timepiece. Initially, it had been hard to find the particular record and get a Cartier extract. There was no evidence. "
"We discovered the woman was a lover of an important Fascist minister in Italy, who had ordered the watch for her [putting her age in the eighties or 90s at the time of typically the auction]. Audemars has special, separate records for all the sales to regal families, people in politics, and leaders in this strange period through the 1920s and also '30s. But eventually, lately, they found the record. It's only now been confirmed by Cartier as a unique piece, the only known within platinum. inch Interesting provenance, to say the least.
