In a landmark year where Cartier is bringing back a signature model that’s in tune with the current obsession over everything Y2K, the Parisian jeweller is also acknowledging a decade of their most desirable collection - the Privé. To commemorate this milestone, we’re getting new flavours of three references inextricably linked with the Privé collection, all in platinum with its signature red highlights, but the execution is different across the models.
There’s an all-new Crash Skeleton with a newly designed movement and slightly re-oriented case, joined by the latest variant of the 2024 Tortue Monopoussoir, though now sporting a dial that will be familiar to any Cartier fans worth their salt. Finally, the most subtle of the three is also the one that underwent the fewest changes, but these small touches amount to one of my favourite executions from Cartier’s modern catalogue.
Cartier’s Crash is the embodiment of how fickle the watch market can be, switching from loving 47mm Panerai to lusting after steel sports watches, and now seeking design-forward efforts just like this one, all in the span of a few years. With this in mind, the redesign of the Crash Skeleton comes at a good time, when the collection really feels like it could do with something new to reinvigorate the heights of the Crash craze. Clearly, Cartier is confident that it has what it takes, and considering they’ve bothered designing an all-new movement, changed the way the crystal sits, and repositioned the crown, I’d say they’re on the right track.
To those familiar with the previous Crash Skeleton (released in 2015), the differences will be immediately obvious, and that’s all thanks to the new 1967 MC movement, named after the year in which the London office designed the very first Crash. Though they both approach the idea of skeletonisation from the same angle (one which sees the movement designed to be as open as possible, rather than taking a regular movement and then skeletonising it by hand), I just love how airy the new Crash Skeleton feels. The stylised Roman numerals are more slender, and more light passes through them, as the moving components seem to have been shrunk into a smaller footprint.
It’s not just how it looks, as the case is 3mm slimmer, and the architecture of the movement necessitated moving the crown into the recess on the right-hand side of the case. The best way I can describe the effect is that the new Crash Skeleton feels more organic, both on and off the wrist, aided by artisanal touches like the asymmetrical, bubble-domed crystal and the hand-hammered finishes on both the back and front of the movement.
Also, have you noticed there’s no branding on the dial? That’s a bold move - but then again, this could only be a Cartier.
Mention Cartier and Privé in the same sentence, and chances are that your mind will float to one of the brand’s most prolific times in recent history, and the one watch that embodies it. While we said goodbye to CPCP in 2008, the Tortue Monopoussoir and its THA movement have become the stuff of legends, causing a stir any time one appears in an auction catalogue.
Basing it on the 2024 redesign, you can now feel like it’s 1999 again, as Cartier tributes the white gold ref. 2396 and its oversized Roman “XII”. Rather than having numerals all around like the 1920s references the prior Privé model was tributing, they’re replaced by silver droplets surrounded by that unmistakably Art Deco railroad track. I’m sure you’ll notice there’s a bit of a burgundy-tinged theme here: alongside the cabochon and strap, all the dial printing is in red, set against a papyrus beige colour.
Housing the 1928 MC co-developed with Le Cercle des Horlogers, the Tortue Monopoussoir Les Opus is very close to the dimensions of that original model, though it is noticeably thinner, which makes it all the better on-wrist. Its platinum case measures 34.8mm in width, 43.7mm lug-to-lug, and an impressive 10.2mm in height, fitted to an alligator leather strap with a case-matching, platinum pin buckle.
If you had shown me any of these three watches separately as Cartier’s headlining Privé release of the fair, I would’ve comfortably told you it’s my favourite. Seeing all three together (and that’s not even mentioning the three other Privé models in yellow gold), my task gets three times as difficult - what a wonderfully difficult conundrum, hey? Though nobody has explicitly asked me to, I will begrudgingly pick just one, and it has to be this one.
Ever since it joined the Privé collection in 2023, I took every opportunity I could to try one of the platinum-braceleted versions in the wild. With this subtle red printing? It’s only gotten better, even though that’s the only change from the previous iterations.
With the bracelet sized properly, it feels so overwhelmingly slinky and luxurious on the wrist that you can’t help staring, and that will just draw you in further until you start noticing other small details. The red of the dial is not nearly as noticeable in-person as it is in the press photos, but it’s just noticeable enough for it to feel special, especially when it’s distorted by the faceted sapphire.
It’s the most subtle of all three, and far and away the least mechanically complicated - it sports a Le Temps Manufacture-made manual calibre - but that just plays into the trope of getting a precious white metal watch.
Brand: Cartier
Model: Privé Les Opus X Crash Skeleton, Privé Les Opus X Tortue Chronographe Monopoussoir, Privé Les Opus X Tank Normale
Diameter: 25.18mm (Crash), 34.8mm (Tortue), 25.7mm (Tank Normale)
Thickness: 12.97mm (Crash), 10.2mm (Tortue), 6.85mm (Tank Normale)
Lug-to-Lug: 45.34mm (Crash), 43.7mm (Tortue), 32.6mm (Tank Normale)
Case Material: 950 platinum
Crystal: Sapphire front, sapphire back (Crash and Tortue only)
Dial Colour: Open, hand-hammered finish (Crash), silver opaline (Tortue and Tank Normale)
Indices: Skeletonised, part of movement (Crash), burgundy Roman numerals (Tortue and Tank Normale)
Lume: No
Water Resistance: 30 metres (Tortue only)
Strap/Bracelet: Burgundy alligator leather, platinum pin buckle (Crash and Tortue); seven-link platinum bracelet, white gold folding clasp (Tank Normale)
Calibre: 1967 MC (Crash), 1928 MC (Tortue), 070 (Tank Normale)
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, monopusher chronograph (Tortue); hours and minutes (Crash and Tank Normale)
Power Reserve: 38 hours (Tank Normale), 44 hours (Tortue), TBC (Crash)
Frequency: 3.5Hz (Tortue and Tank Normale), 4Hz (Crash)
Winding: Manual winding
Chronometer Certified: No
Price: €53,000 (Tortue), €58,000 (Tank Normale), €97,000 (Crash)
Availability: For enquiries
Limited Edition: Crash Skeleton limited to 150 pieces
For more, click here.
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