Visual Description
The 2499C is the Basculante in gold. Its 25 × 38.5 mm 18k yellow gold case sits in a frame between two pivots, so the watch head can swing face down against the wrist. The silvered dial is engine-turned with a rosette at the center, carries painted Roman numerals with Cartier's hidden signature at VII and is signed Paris. Blued steel sword hands complete the dial, and the crown sits at 12 o'clock.
On the examples Sotheby's and Monaco Legend catalog, the back is sapphire, so turning the case over shows the hand-wound Cal. 060 MC. Sotheby's catalogs the case as brushed and polished, and the watch is worn on a leather strap with an 18k gold Cartier folding clasp; Sotheby's describes one in yellow and pink gold.
Reference Significance
The 2499C is the Basculante that Cartier made for its Collection Privée Cartier Paris, the line it launched in 1998 that looked back to its golden era. The steel Ref. 2390 shares its size and movement; the 2499C adds the gold case, the rosette guilloché dial and, on cataloged examples, the display back. Hairspring, which has sold one, calls it quite rarely seen.
The Cal. 060 MC inside is a Cartier caliber derived from the Frédéric Piguet 610, a thin hand-wound movement, and on cataloged examples the display back puts it on view.
Historical Context
The Basculante dates to 1932, a case that swings face down to protect its crystal. Cartier revived it in the 1990s with the steel 2390, and in 1998 launched the Collection Privée Cartier Paris, which Phillips says was offered for ten years. The 2499C was the Basculante made for it.
The earliest dated example we found is a Sotheby's lot cataloged as 2499MC, with a certificate dated April 2001 and case number 0175 MG. Its case number sits in the same MG series as 2499C watches numbered 0276MG, which Sotheby's dates circa 2006, and 0327MG, which Shapiro dates circa 2005. Hairspring and Shapiro also date examples to about 2005, so production ran at least from 2001 to the middle of the decade. No source we opened explains the C suffix, and Gray & Sons has listed a gold Basculante as 2499D without saying what the D marks.
What to Look For
Start with the case back: it should read 2499C, with a case number ending MG. A numbered back out of 365 is the 2391 Millennium edition, and a steel case is the 2390. Through a sapphire back, or in movement photographs, confirm the Cartier Cal. 060 MC.
Work the mechanism next. The case should swing smoothly through its frame and seat firmly at each position without wobble; check the pivots and lugs for wear or old repairs. On the dial, the rosette guilloché should be crisp and even, with sharp Roman numerals and the hidden signature at VII. Gold cases soften with polishing, so look for clean edges between the brushed and polished surfaces. The 18k gold folding clasp, box and certificate all matter at this level.
