Cartier Tank Cintrèe Large - Paris Dial Circa 1971

Straight Facts

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

Inspired by the Renault Tanks used on the battlefield in WWI - yes, thats a true story - the Cartier Tank Louis is one of the worlds most iconic watch designs, and well over 100 years old at that. Revolutionary at the time - Cartier took the look of the tank's perpendicular treads and integrated it to the lugs, by way of brancards making it part of the case itself. Over 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.

Enter the Tank Cintrèe

In 1921, Cartier introduced the now legendary Cintrèe model, an elongated and highly curved take on the Tank. The word cintree means ‘curved’, another example of how literal Cartier can be. The Tank from the Tank Vehicle, and the Curved Tank becoming the Tank Cintree. While very early Cintree’s favored Breguet style hands, later versions moved to blue steel sword hands like the present example from 1971. The Cintree was the choice of watch for one Mr. Fred Astaire, and has always embodied that early 20th century swagger of the roaring 20’s that birthed it.

Cintree’s have never been officially discontinued, but are rarely stocked in Cartier Boutiques around the world making them incredibly elusive to collectors. A recent example, for the 100th anniversary of the Cintree in 2021, Cartier simply released and sold 1:1 re-issues of the first Cintree to its top 150 clients without ever even issuing a press release! Finding a vintage Cintree is an even harder proposition! The present example is preserved in stunning overall condition with crisp printing that has aged to a slight eggshell with its Paris signature at ‘6’. The watch is powered by the appropriate European Watch & Clock Co. manually wound movement - essentially produced under private label branding by JLC for Cartier. An opportunity to acquire such a fine watch may never come around for quite some time, so take a page from Fred Astaire and let this leap onto your wrist quickly!

*Some marks or spots on the dial are reflections or dust on the crystal and are due to high intensity strobe lighting used while photographing. They are not actually on the watch or visible in natural lighting.