Cartier Tank Cintrée '7 Lignes' - 'Paris' Dial

The Cartier Tank was one of the first wristwatches. Full stop!

Inspired by the Renault Tanks used on the battlefield in WWI — yes, true story. Revolutionary at the time, Louis Cartier took inspiration from the profile of the treads on a period Renault tank, and based the case on them by way of the of brancards doubling as the lugs themselves. Over the course of the 20^th Century, the Tank became the watch to wear. Silent movie stars like Rudolph Valentino, artists like Andy Warhol, and even Jackie Kennedy were all fans of the signature timepiece from the King of Jewelers and the Jeweler of Kings. An icon indeed in the truest sense of the word.

The model was first introduced in a few different case shapes which bore different names that intertwine with the inspiration behind them.

The Tank 'Cintrée' was one of these early designs.

In 1921, Cartier introduced the now legendary Cintrèe model, an elongated, curved take on the Tank 'Normale'. The word "cintrée" translates to ‘curved’ in French — another example of how literal Cartier can be. Like so many watches, the Cintrée underwent a number of minor changes over the years, with very early examples favoring 'Breguet'-style hands, while later exampled shifted to blue-steel 'sword' hands.

Cintrées have never been officially discontinued, but are rarely stocked in Cartier boutiques worldwide, making them incredibly scarce and elusive to collectors. A recent example, for the 100th anniversary of the Cintrée in 2021, Cartier simply released and sold 1.1 re-issues of the first Cintrée to its top 150 clients without ever even issuing a press release or announcing the watch! Naturally, finding a vintage Cintrée has become difficult.

The example that we have here, a small size called the '7 Lignes', dates to circa 1970 and remains in fantastic overall condition. It's white dial has changed to a lovely eggshell color and retains crisp printing throughout with a "Paris" signature at the 6 o'clock position. Upon closer inspection, there is some edge wear visible, namely in the top right corner of the dial, and well as what appears to be a light hand-drag mark on the left of the dial. The blued-steel 'sword' handset is complimented by the ubiquitous Cartier sapphire cabochon-set crown, which is beautifully faceted in this case. 

Don't let the size fool you, rectangular watches like this have a way of wearing larger than its dimensions would led you to believe, allowing for a surprisingly accommodating wearing experience.