The Tank Watch By Cartier

In the watchmaking domain, it was a question that gnawed at the minds of the greatest from the very first years of the 20th century: how to incorporate circular time into the line of a pure bracelet that would integrate the casing’s fasteners into the design all while being a prolonging of the very same bracelet? After a number of attempts, Cartier was finally able to whip up a timepiece combining all the demands of modernity. The year was 1917, the Tank had just seen the light of day and with it opened a new era in watchmaking. It was said that “A tank has rolled through Cartier.” Called the Tank because its silhouette is owed to the Renault tank: seen from the top, the shafts become the rolling tracks, the casing the vehicle’s binnacle. While it may be a timepiece that initially appears, in reality the Tank brings with it an entirely new form, a style, an elegance, an unparalleled trajectory. In short, the Tank would enter the world as a complete and resolutely modern turn-around. An instrument to measure time that put its nose up at every tradition by serving as a bridge between eras – and it couldn’t have happened any other way. The Tank’s aesthetics are part of the Cartier style equation: with a guilloché dial, railroad graphic, and black Roman numerals engraved onto white or white on black, the Tank became a watchmaking reference. It was thus in 1917 that the jewelry-maker sketched out the first prototype for the watch. In peace time, the prototype was offered to General John Pershing, commander of the American expeditionary force in Europe. Its success was immediate.

A figurehead before its time for a trend acclaimed for the purity of its lines and its quest for new forms, the Tank would soon come out in a jewelry version as well, playing with the boundaries between masculine and feminine. Indeed, liberty and elegance have no gender. In the 40s, the Tank watch first appeared on the international scene: on the wrists of actors, writers, or artists, it was showed off as a demonstration of perfect elegance. Whatever the era, its strength lies in breaking clean with a certain taste for formalness. In 1987, Cartier designed the Tank Américaine – a rectangular form that was more compact, rounding off the shafts’ instep. A marvel in watchmaking and style that plays with geometry, alternating between keen and soft with its angles and curves, the Tank Américaine is also the first Cartier watch to feature a curved and waterproof casing. The Tank Américaine can be read as a manifesto of classicism, a force combined with the discretion of its elongated and slightly cambered form make it a great classic. But while it may be a dressier watch, it’s strength is nonetheless present and accounted for – generous and massive, some would see it as an homage to the Tank watch offered to General Pershing… Finally, the Tank is Cartier watchmaking’s praise to dandy-ism. As Jean-Charles de Castelbajac would write in 1994: “If every tank was made by Cartier, we’d have time to live in peace !”

The Tank Watch: Keys Dates

2017: Editions Flammarion publish a book on Cartier Tank, entitled “Cartier, the Tank watch” and written by Franco Cologni.

2017: Exhibition “Cartier in motion” at the Design Museum in London where the Tank watch is presented among 170 pieces.

2017: The 1963 Cartier Tank, which had belonged to Jackie Kennedy, was auctioned for $ 379,500.

2017: The Cartier House celebrates the 100th anniversary of the iconic Tank collection.

2016: Cyrille Vigneron is appointed chief executive of the Cartier House.

2014: The Cartier House presents a new short film called “Shape your time” and directed by Bruno Aveillan in which the Tank watch appears.

2013: The Cartier house unveils its new short film on the occasion of the end of the year celebrations called “Winter Tale ” and directed by Eric Bergeron.

2012: Release of the “Louis Cartier XL Extraplate Tank” and the “Crazy Tank”. The Tank is available in three sizes, in three golds, set or not, with a generous design housing and the particularity of which is to house the winding crown in one of the stretchers.

2012: The Cartier House created a short film entitled “The Odyssey” directed by Bruno Aveillan to present the history of the brand and its flagship products including the Tank watch.

2012: Launch of the English Tank watch .

2010: Creation of the Manufacture 1904 TM movement, a caliber invented by Cartier as the first automatic “in house” movement and used for the Tank.

2009: For her official portrait, Michelle Obama chose to wear a Tank watch.

2002: Launch of the Tank Divan watch.

1996: Launch of the French Tank watch.

1989: Creation of the Tank American watch with beveled stretchers.

1984: Creation of the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in Jouy-en-Josas.

1981: Lady Diana wears a gold tank watch during a Polo match.

1980: Launch of the American Tank watch.

1977: Creation of the “Tank Must” watch with its virgin dial of any graduation.

1977: At the heart of the Must de Cartier period, a collection of silver-plated watches is launched, which takes the shape of the Louis Cartier Tank.

1976: Mohamed Ali buys a Tank in Puerto Rico.

1973: The American artist Andy Warhol begins a collection of Tank watches that same year.

1972: Alain Delon wears a Tank watch on the set of Un flic.

1967: Warren Beatty wears a Tank watch at the time of the movie Bonnie and Clyde.

1960: Creation of the “Mini Tank Elongated” watch specially designed for women.

1960: Simone Signoret receives Oscar for best actress for her role as Alice in Room at the top and Yves Montand wears the Tank watch at the ceremony in Los Angeles.

1954: Stewart Granger wears an arched Tank gold watch.

1952: Launch of Tank rectangle watch in thick model.

1940: Gary Cooper, legendary figure of masculine elegance, wears a Tank.

1936: Launch of the asymmetric Tank watch where the entire balance of the watch is rocked.

1934: Cary Grant wears a Tank watch on the set of the film Kiss and Make-Up.

1932: Launch of the tilting Tank watch, with a casing that pivots in an articulated frame.

1932: Clark Gable wears a Tank watch in the movie The Beauty of Saigon.

1928: Launch of the tank watch with wickets whose pierced plate reveals segments of discs bearing one the hour digits and the other minutes.

1926: Appearance of the Tank watch on the wrist of Rudolph Valentino in the film The Son of the Sheik.

1922: Launch of the Chinese Tank watch , inspired by the porticos of Chinese temples.

1922: Launch of the Louis Cartier Tank watch characterized by a softening of the angles.

1921: The Cartier house launches the Tank curved watch, whose rectangular shaped dial is made to fit the rounded wrist.

1919: The Cartier House sets up the production of the Tank.

1917: The prototype of the Tank watch is offered to General John Pershing.

1904: Louis-François Cartier draws a picture of a wristwatch: the Santos watch, and understands that the wristwatch will become an indispensable accessory, both functional and elegant.

The Tank Watch By Cartier

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