The Latest Cartier Releases from Watches and Wonders

Written by Felix Scholz

Cartier in 2024 is truly an unstoppable force. The Maison’s packed catalogue of new releases is full of watches that honour its long and stories past and speak to an exciting future. All while exuding an effortless air of relaxed elegance and undeniable chic that make the brand a perrenial favourite. Here are our picks of some of the most exciting releases. 

Kicking off with the collector-focused Cartier Privé, the eighth edition of this collection focuses on the Tortue. This design is one of the older shapes in the Maison’s archive, which dates back to 1912. Named for its resemblance to the shell of the tortoise, this modern Tortue comes in two forms. A two-handed time-only version is offered in yellow gold, platinum, and platinum with diamonds, as well as the Cartier Privé Tortue Monopossoir Chronograph. Offered in yellow gold and platinum, this monopusher chronograph is a faithful homage to Cartier’s first-ever chronograph, a Tortue dating back to 1928. The only possible downside about this new take on the curvy design — theyre all quite limited. 

Luckily, another big star in Cartier’s slate of 2024 releases this year is a little more accessible. The Santos de Cartier Dual Time adds a new complication to the Large Santos de Cartier model — a second time zone. The steel case is matched with a satin-finish anthracite grey sunray-brushed dial for tone on tone goodness, but it’s the addition of the second hour indicator at the bottom of the dial that really shakes things up. The Santos de Cartier is already an incredibly versatile watch, and the addition of this sensitively integrated second time zone adds an extra dimension to the icon. 

Of course, if you prefer your Santos de Cartier less travel-oriented, there are options too. Keeping with the grey dial theme, there’s a large steel and yellow gold option with an anthracite dial. On top of that, there’s a pair of models with rich graduated brown dials, with a satin-finish and sunray brushed dial, in large and Medium models. These two brown dials are incredibly vivid and promise to look different in every light. 

There are lots of new colours with the more slender Santos-Dumont line as well. The brand has released a trio of pieces in olive green, blue peacock and taupe grey, with lacquered cases in platinum, rose gold and yellow gold, respectively. Cartier’s case lacquering technique is remarkable and gives these timeless designs some contemporary flair. The same can be said for the numerals on these bright dials — rather than the traditional Roman numerals, Cartier has used Arabic numbers here. 

Perhaps even more out there is the Santos-Dumont Rewind, a limited edition in platinum with a hardstone carnelian dial. Normally, this vivid red dial would be the main talking point, but on this watch, the fact that Cartier has literally made time run backwards. The Maison has inverted the manual winding calibre 230 MC, so the hours and minutes hands run counterclockwise. It’s surreal, and we’re sure it would take some getting used to, but it’s a quirky and charming detail that speaks strongly about Cartier‘s creative conception of time. 

Another design that plays with notions of time is the Reflection de Cartier. These open bracelets These sculptural shapes explore and express the Maison’s endless fascination with magic, mystery and illusion. Offered in various metals and degrees of jewellery finishing, the five new Reflection de Cartier models all share a common trait: a jewel-like watch dial on one end of the bracelet, perfectly reflected in the mirror-polished finish on the other end. It’s this clarity of vision, paired with creativity, that makes Cartier’s watchmaking so endlessly exciting.