THREE LIONS/GETTY IMAGES; THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS, INC.; WORLD HISTORY ARCHIVE/ALAMY; TIM GRAHAM/GETTY IMAGES; JOYCE N. BOGHOSIAN/GETTY IMAGES; DAVID CAIRNS/EXPRESS/GETTY IMAGESLIKE ITS NAMESAKE, the Cartier Tank is unstoppable. The elegant unisex watch, which celebrates
its centennial this fall, has been a favorite of movie stars (Clark Gable, Fred Astaire), First Ladies (Jackie
Kennedy, Michelle Obama), even royalty (Princess Diana). Andy Warhol proudly owned one but not for its
intended purpose. “I don’t wear a Tank to tell the time,” said the man who invented the concept of 15 minutes
of fame. “In fact, I never wind it. I wear a Tank because it’s the watch to wear.”
78 | FORBES ASIA OCTOBER 2017
1917
According to company lore,
the Tank was designed by
Louis Cartier, the founder’s
grandson, after being
inspired by the tread of a
Renault FT-17 light tank,
a mechanical hero of the
Great War. More likely, the
design was an elegant
update of the square Cartier
Santos watch. But the
military connection made
for good marketing—the
first Cartier Tank was
presented as a victory watch
to American general John
Pershing in 1918.1919
The watch, with its Roman numerals,
railroad-track minute markers and
signature sapphire cabochon crown,
was offered for sale in Paris. Six
were sold in 1920, and it was given a
name—the Tank Normale.1926
The watch made its movie debut when
Rudolph Valentino insisted on wearing
his Tank during his final film, The Son
of the Sheik. Call it an anachronism—or
proof of the Tank’s timelessness.1963
First Lady Jackie Kennedy was
given a 1962 Tank Ordinaire by her
brother-in-law Prince Stanislaw
“Stas” Radziwill. In June 2017, the
watch broke the record for the
most expensive Cartier Tank ever
auctioned, selling for $379,500—
to Kim Kardashian.1976
More than a decade after the Cartier family sold the business, the
new owners created a lower-priced line, Les Must de Cartier. In
1976, the Cartier Must de Tank, with colorful lacquered dials and no
numbers, debuted. The gold-plated quartz watch, which retailed
for about $150, tarnished the prestige of the brand, but sales were
extraordinary, and they remain collectible, often selling for more
than $1,000.
1996
Having released the Tank
Américaine in 1989, a curved
cousin of the Cintrée, Cartier
introduced the sportier Tank
Française, which had a chain-
link bracelet. A postdivorce
Princess Diana was often
photographed with a gold
version, and Michelle Obama
wore a stainless-steel Tank
Française in her official
portrait as First Lady in
2009.
2017
For the watch’s centennial, Cartier has
introduced a battalion of Tanks in some of
its most iconic models, including a Tank
Américaine that’s finally available in stainless
steel (beginning at $5,750); a tribute to the
man who got it all ticking, a Tank Louis Cartier
(beginning at $9,750); and skeletonized
versions of the Tank Cintrée, limited to editions
of—what else?—100.1921
Cartier threw the Tank a curve when it introduced the first
variation on the Normale—the Tank Cintrée, an elongated
watch with a curved case that hugged the wrist. Because
each new Cintrée has been produced in limited editions,
it has remained one of the most collectible 20th-century
watches, routinely selling for between $25,000 and $50,000,
and as much as $250,000 for exceptional platinum versions.2012
Cartier put another country on the
Tank map with the Tank Anglaise.
A variation on the Française, the
Anglaise came in three types of gold
and housed the crown in the watch’s
brancard, a reminder that a Tank
should always protect.The Cartier Tank at 100
BY MICHAEL SOLOMON
Forbes Life LUXURY LINEAGE