FS: Cartier Basculante

[learningtofly]

I'm letting a few pieces go at the moment, and one of them is my very beautiful Cartier Basculante - you can read a full write-up about it here. I suspect I'll regret doing this, but...

The case measures 38mm by 25.5mm, and is described on the paperwork as the large size. The watch housing itself is mounted in a frame, which is then hinged at the lower end to the third piece of the case, the back. Within its frame, the watch case can pivot for reversing or angling. Amazingly, the complete case assembly is just 6mm thick.

The Basculante contains a first-grade movement – branded by Cartier as their calibre 060 but actually made for them by Frederic Piguet (used by the likes of Breguet and Blancpain). At just 6.5 lignes (15.2 millimetres) and 2.1 millimetres thick, the calibre 6.10 beats at 21,600 vph and uses 21 jewels. In fact, and in the words of Walt Odets, “it’s a much finer, much more sophisticated piece of work than Jaeger LeCoultre's basic Reverso movement, the calibre 846.” For anyone interested Walt’s article can be read here, and part two contains some fantastic shots of the beautifully decorated movement.

Anyway, it dates from 2002 but has had a full service from Cartier within the last few months so is running beautifully. There are some photos below, and I'd describe the condition as excellent, with just the lightest signs of wear (the only thing worthy of mention is a slightly raised corner of the inner case back - I'll try to take a photo of it when I have a minute but it's tiny, has no bearing on anything and is hidden insiide the case anyway); please note that I recently had Cartier refit the OEM alligator strap/deployant, so it's no longer on the Hirsch leather that's shown in the photos.

The price is £1650 - no trades thanks - and I'd like payment by BT or PayPal plus 3.5% (not gift). Delivery in included but non-UK buyers will have to fork out an additional £20 to cover insured international shipping.