Masamasa Hirota, also known as Hakase, editor-in-chief of the watch magazine Chronos Japan, will be publishing five columns on webChronos about masterpiece movements written in 2024. This time, he will be exploring the masterpiece created by Cartier's manufacture, the hand-wound chronograph movement "Cal. 1928 MC."
Photograph by Yu Mitamura
[Article featured in Movement Book 2024]
The Cal. 1928 MC, a result of the company's leap forward as a manufacture
Since 2000, Cartier has been moving towards becoming a manufacture, and the culmination of this was the in-house Cal. 1904 MC, which was released in 2010. With a diameter of 26mm, two barrels, and a Magic Click automatic winding system, this movement possessed a level of perfection worthy of being Cartier's flagship caliber, although its power reserve was somewhat short.
However, from then on, Cartier slowed down the development of its own movements. The reason for this is unclear, but it can be assumed that the company focused on the exterior and improving reliability. By maturing existing movements, the defect rate would be significantly reduced. Despite completely revamping its production system, Cartier continued to refine existing movements, which ultimately greatly increased Cartier's reputation.
However, perhaps because the company now had the necessary systems in place, Cartier began to focus again on developing in-house movements, first with the Caliber 1917 MC for tonneau cases, and then in 2024 with the creation of the new Caliber 1928 MC, a manual-wound chronograph movement for the Cartier Privé "Tortue" monopusher chronograph.
Previously, this model was equipped with a hand-wound movement manufactured by the old THA. However, Cartier explains that after searching for a movement that would suit the tonneau, they decided to remake it from scratch. What is interesting is the layout of the movement. The barrel and balance are arranged symmetrically to ensure thinness. However, in order to maintain the symmetrical design, the column wheel is placed at 6 o'clock, and the levers are also arranged as symmetrically as possible. Cartier, which has produced robust in-house movements, has taken a complete turn with this model, emphasizing aesthetics.
Unfortunately, this movement is limited to the limited edition Tortue. However, judging by the quality of the Cal. 1928 MC, there's no doubt that Cartier will be putting more effort into their movements in the future. Cartier has achieved uniqueness in addition to being one of the most reliable brands in the Swiss watch industry, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds.
