With its striking design and high legibility, the Tortue multiple time zone watch provides a large amount of time information and a level of ease of use that will greatly appeal to world travellers. Their priority is to see the time in the place they are going without losing track of the time at their starting point and, above all, to be able to read this information without performing a tortuous series of operations.

Combining the simple lines of its tortoise-shaped case, available in pink or white gold and a version set with diamonds, with the clarity of an elaborate dial on several levels, the Tortue multiple time zone watch is an imposing timepiece that discreetly shows its interesting sophistication. What is immediately striking however, are its fluid lines, its signature codes so dear to Cartier such as the facetted sapphire on the winding crown, the engraved multi-level dial and the finely cut-out, blue lacquered centrepiece representing a part of the world map. This delicate decoration seems like an invitation to travel and even less experienced watch connoisseurs can see from a distance that this instrument for keeping time is ultimately intended for world travellers.

At first sight, this original watch, which combines a classic shape with a rather contemporary dial, does not obviously display its strengths. And yet it does more than offer UTC, the current terminology for a watch displaying two independently adjustable time zones that is often referred to as a GMT. While this function that has become popular since its introduction in 1953, the Tortue multiple time zone goes further: it belongs to the family of “World Time” watches.

These much rarer instruments generally have a dial incorporating a mobile disc carrying the names of major cities which each represent a time zone. In order to lighten the design of the watch’s face, Cartier chose to have these names appear in a window cut into the side of the Tortue multiple time zone watch’s case middle.

The modular construction of the Manufacture calibre 1904 MC – developed in the Cartier workshops at La Chaux-de-Fonds – provides the information a modern traveller requires in the simplest possible way. To avoid the need for mental gymnastics, the time at the current location is clearly displayed by the principal hands while the time at the journey’s starting point is indicated in a semi-circular aperture in the lower half of the dial centre by a day/night hand incorporating symbols for the sun and moon.

This ingenious mechanism, controlled by a push button at 2 o’clock, allows the wearer to see the time, displayed in 24-hour mode, in cities corresponding to the 24 most commonly used time zones. As if that were not enough, the Tortue multiple time zone watch also uses an idea that was incorporated last year in the Calibre de Cartier Multiple time zone watch. It takes account of the change from Summer to Winter time in the countries involved and indicates it on another reference scale in order to keep the time zone correct during the seven months in which Summer time is in effect.