Watches and Wonders
Watches and Wonders: Cartier Revives the Tank à Guichets Jump-Hour
This year, the brand tapped the spirit of the Roaring Twenties to return the Tank à Guichets to its catalog.
By Cait Bazemore
Contributor
With watches that are rightly celebrated for their timeless design and craftsmanship, most watchmakers wish they had Cartier’s mojo. After all, even non-enthusiasts have heard of the Tank.
Then there’s the more niche Privé collection, where Cartier revives incredible models from its past using modern-day techniques and materials.
This year at Watches and Wonders Geneva, Cartier once again dipped into its archives to expand the Privé collection and revive an iconic, handless model from the 1920s, the Tank à Guichets. And man, oh man, do we want one!
The Cartier Tank
The Cartier Tank needs no introduction. It’s set the standard for square watches for over a century. It’s arguably the most instantly recognizable and iconic model in the famed French Maison’s expansive catalog. Plus, it remains one of the most influential designs in watchmaking at large.
Despite its elegance, the Tank’s unique design was inspired by a French tank used in World War I, the Renault FT-17 tank. Considered the world’s first modern tank, the FT-17 was the first tank to have its armament within a fully rotating turret. It was also lighter and more compact than the tanks that came before it. Muses truly can be found anywhere.
The Other Tank: The Tank à Guichets
About a decade after the debut of the first Tank (either 1918, when the initial prototype was made, or 1919, when the Tank first became available on the open market), Cartier began iterating on the design. Then, in 1928, the Maison introduced a decidedly more rugged and utilitarian-looking version compared to the sophistication of the original.
This model was the Tank à Guichets, a limited edition variation with an exceptionally unique design that eschewed traditional hands for separate “guichet” (or window) displays for the hours and minutes. Moreover, because the original Tank à Guichets was released in such small production numbers, it quickly became highly sought after.
Over the years, Cartier has reimagined the collection in other limited edition runs. Now, we get the Maison’s latest take on the memorable design, as this year, Cartier’s Privé line – which, each year, features a new interpretation of one of the Maison’s iconic timepieces – takes on the Tank à Guichets.
The foundation of the design echoes the spirit of the 1920s and ‘30s, an era marked by the rise of car and train travel when the time needed to be read quickly, easily, and at a glance. In response, Cartier designed the Tank à Guichets, a model that displays the time in two apertures: one for the hours and one for the minutes.
Over the course of the Tank à Guichets’ various limited runs, Cartier continued to play with its design elements, from the shape of the apertures to the integration of the brancards with the case, the placement of the crown, and the choice of materials.
We continue to see that creativity in these latest Tank à Guichets models. Three of the four new watches feature the original 1928 design, which places the hour aperture at 12 o’clock and the minute aperture at 6 o’clock. Meanwhile, the fourth model (another limited edition) orients its two apertures on an angle.
Each version is powered by the hand-wound 9755 MC movement, a calibre with jumping hours and dragging minutes, crafted exclusively for this new collection.
Pricing & Availability
The new Tank à Guichets is available today with the original 1928 design reprised in three case materials – yellow gold, rose gold, and platinum – alongside the 200-piece limited edition variation, which comes exclusively in platinum. For more information, including pricing, check out Cartier’s website.