Cartier Tank
The rectangular wristwatch whose case sides form the strap attachments – said to be inspired by tanks.
Louis Cartier designed the Tank in 1917, as the wristwatch was beginning to replace the pocket watch among men. According to the firm’s account, the form was inspired by the tanks on the Western Front seen from above.
The Tank has been made in many variants since and is one of the most copied watch forms. Genuine watches have serial numbers and Cartier’s signature on dial, case and movement.
Materials: Gold or platinum, leather strap, crown set with a sapphire
Manufacture: Designed by Louis Cartier in 1917; the movements came from Switzerland, among others from Jaeger-LeCoultre.
The two longitudinal sides – brancards – to which the strap is attached.
Roman numerals and a minute track like a railway line.
A blue sapphire or spinel in the crown.
The Tank went on sale in 1919, in small series. Variants followed as early as the 1920s, such as the Tank Cintrée (1921), curved to the wrist, and the Tank Louis Cartier (1922) with softer corners.
The long sides of the case, known as brancards, continue past the dial and become the lugs for the strap, so that case and strap form a single whole. The crown is set with a cabochon-cut stone, usually blue.
A rectangular case, Roman numerals around the edge, a railway minute track inside them and blued hands. On many dials Cartier’s name is inscribed in one of the numerals, a hidden signature.
The early variants include the Tank Chinoise (1922) and the Tank Basculante (1932), whose case can be flipped over. The Must de Cartier, the Américaine and the Française have their own pages here.
Older Tanks from Cartier’s workshops in Paris, London and New York differ in details and signatures. Forgeries are common; serial numbers, signatures and the quality of the movement give them away.