Cartier Tank à Guichets 'Platinum' 150th Anniversary

Cartier's Tank is one of the icons of the watch industry. Over its history, it has gone through a whole host of unique iterations with their own unique personalities. Perhaps no model has as distinctive a look as the coveted Tank a Guichets. 

Notably released in 1928 and worn by jazz icon Duke Ellington, the watch is strikingly recognizable thanks to its jump hour display.

Carved into a slab of platinum, this watch truly embodies the 'tank' aesthetic of its namesake. Cut into the surface of the slab of platinum is a unique jump hour display, flaunting the hours in a window at 12, and the minutes on a radial display at 6 o'clock. 

Over the history of the Tank à Guichets since 1928, very few examples have actually been made. Several piece uniques were introduced in the early to mid 20th century. Then, in 1997, the brand did a 150 piece limited edition in platinum.

This piece is part of that limited run of pieces. What you're looking at is a truly rare icon in the Cartier collections. Don't pass up this opportunity, it doesn't come up often.

When the top of the hour comes, you'll find yourself taking a moment out of your day to watch the disc jump from one to the next. It's one of the most captivating mechanisms on the market, and combined with a striking metal case, it's got a truly unique cool factor.

In short, this is a special one.

Despite being a purveyor of haute joaillerie, Cartier has had a long tradition of making watches.

It started in 1907, when founder Louis Cartier made what was one of the first wristwatches for his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont. In the following years, the brand made a name for itself with its most famous wristwatch, the Tank, in all its multitudinous forms.

Cartier introduced the Tank in 1917 — which was supposedly inspired by the Renault FT-17 tanks seen on the battlefields of World War I — with a run of six pieces. (According to legend, these were given to American General John J. Pershing and his staff.) Cartier took the look of the Renault tank's treads and applied it to the watch’s lugs, which were integrated via brancards into the case itself. That first run of six pieces increased to thirty-three by 1920, and by the end of the 20th Century, that number stood well in the hundreds of thousands. Indeed, in sheer volume alone, the Tank — in all its various models — is Cartier's largest line of watches.

The Tank Louis was introduced in 1922, followed close on the heels of the Asian-influenced Tank Chinoise. The Chinoise, released amidst a mania for jewelry inspired by the Orient, has a square rather than rectangular case and lugs that resemble the portico of a Chinese pagoda.

From its debut, the Tank would see many variations, each in keeping with Louis Cartier’s taste for clean lines and perfect symmetry. Each variant — from the original Tank to the Tank Louis to the Cintrée with its flirtatious, curvaceous lines — has its passionate devotees. Rudolph Valentino, that sensual star of the silver screen, insisted on wearing his Tank onscreen in The Son of the Sheik, and Clark Gable, Andy Warhol, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis were among those who sported a one throughout the years.

Other model lines, including the Santos (based upon the original model crafted for Alberto Santos-Dumont) and the Pasha, have developed devoted followers. Indeed, the maison is unique as one of the few jewelry brands to elicit as much passion from collectors as dedicated watch companies.

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Condition

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