Cartier created the Tank watch, the French luxury jewellery house’s most enduring timepiece design.
Louis Cartier designed the Tank in 1917, drawing inspiration from the newly developed Renault tanks used during the First World War. Its rectangular case and parallel vertical sidebars, known as brancards, echo the track-and-frame structure of a tank viewed from above. Cartier presented the prototype to General John J. Pershing of the American Expeditionary Force.
The watch entered production in 1919, when Cartier made six examples. Its distinctive design combined strong geometry with refined details, including Roman numerals, a chemin de fer minute track, sword-shaped hands and a sapphire cabochon crown.
The Tank is often confused with Cartier’s Santos, another famous model. The Santos predates it and was created for aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont. Tank variants include the Tank Louis Cartier, introduced in 1922, the Tank Américaine and the Tank Française, but all belong to the Tank family.