The Tortue XL with jaguar motif was unveiled at SIHH last year as part of the Cartier d’Art collection of artistic timepieces. The Tortue jaguar was one of the highlights of the fair for me, and it is without a doubt the most striking enamelled wristwatch Cartier has made in recent years.

That was proven by the market reaction - all 80 pieces were sold out in a flash. Several collectors are looking for one, with no luck.

One fortunate buyer, however, managed to get what was possibly the last piece available.

The watch was recently delivered and I managed a quick chat with the owner, who is already has several Cartier watches, including the famous Crash.

The owner made the decision to buy the watch sight unseen, only have seen a poster of the watch at a recent Cartier Fine Watchmaking dinner. In hindsight that might have been foolish but upon seeing the watch in the metal, the owner has absolutely no regrets.

"It's iconic and not symmetrical; the jaguar spills onto the case," says the owner.

The owner's comments refer to the fact that is watch is not just enamelled, but also hand engraved. The 60 hour engraving process begins with the solid gold dial and case being engraved with the jaguar motif as well as the exceptionally fine texture of fur.

Subsequently the enamel is applied and then fired, multiple times for each of the seven colours of enamel – black, mauve, grey, opal white, opaque white, and brown- and green-yellows. That takes a further 25 hours.

Much of the colour lies in the striking eyes of the jaguar, which have incredible detail.

The dial is so compelling that reading the time with the gold Breguet numerals is nearly impossible, which the owner happily concedes.

"It's very Cartier, the Tortue case is classic, but modern at the same time," referring to the yellow gold Tortue XL case.

"[The jaguar] is a modern take on a Cartier icon, in my opinion."

Congrats to the owner on this exceptional timepiece!

- SJX