Though Cartier has produced some fine mechanical watches during its 170 year history (such as the perennial favorite, the Louis Cartier), by the 1990s 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 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,, and Girard-Perregaux.
Conceived in the 1920s, 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 or, just to name a few), the Tortue stood out with its sensuous curves that lent themselves well to many different watches — from time-only models to more involved complications — this Cartier Tortue Day & Night (or, pardon our French, the Jour et Noit), is an example of the latter.
This example, a Reference W1553651, features an upsized 38mm x 48mm 18k white gold case, a curved sapphire crystal and an octagonal crown sporting Cartier's signature sapphire inset. We’ve waxed poetic about the case lines, but the dial is just as captivating. Adorned with guilloché finishing, the silver-tone dial is home to printed Roman indices, blued-steel Breguet hands and a day/night aperture that has the most whimsical rotating display we’ve ever seen on a serialized production piece from the maison.
Powered by a manual-winding Calibre 9904 movement visible through a sapphire aperture equipped with travel-friendly jump-hour hand, this piece comes fitted to a signed black alligator leather strap with an 18k white gold deployant buckle. Perfectly balancing traditional design and playful artistry, this piece perfectly encapsulates everything collectors love about the Privee Collection.
In beautiful professionally detailed condition and sized for larger wrists, this one will go fast for sure!