It is awe-inspiring the beauty and design Louis Cartier perceived in a vehicle of War. In 1917 Louis Cartier drew inspiration from the shape and form of the WW1 Renault Tank fighting a brave war on the Western Front and designed the Tank Watch.
The Tank Watch is an icon to the age of modernization where men gave up their stuffy pocket watches for the sleek design of the Tank Watch. Cartier Tank Watches have sleek proportional lines like those on the Renault Tank. Depending on the collections the watch faces are square or rectangle. A tank has blue, sword-shaped hands with silvered opaline guilloche dials. The winding crowns on tanks ,like many Cartier watches are topped with sapphire cabochons. The Tank's Roman Numerals are bold and distinct.
Cartier has released over 250 variations of the Tank over the past 90 years. An earlier model being the Tank Chinoise Watch, 1922 Art Deco inspired square watch with symmetrical cross bars. The Tank Francaise (above) is a newer 1996 version of the Tank fitted with a metal or gold bracelet which looks remarkably like the caterpillar treads of the Renault Tank.
Another exquisite tank masterpiece is the Tank Americaine. Its elongated dial and slim bracelet is perfection in balance and shape.The Tank is exceedingly popular and has become a mark of refined elegance.
Beautiful! I also very much enjoy the men's tank - a classic timpiece! I used to have one, and boy do I miss it sometimes!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your great blog!