Photo courtesy of Cartier
Cartier winds back the clock and reintroduces an ’80s classic with the Cartier Tank Américaine
At the tail end of the first World War, the Cartier Tank was conceived. In 1917, as the last few bullets were fired and the bells of war signaled armies’ withdrawal from multiple fronts, a watch that reflected the period’s heavy military presence was developed. Visually inspired by the french-made Renault FT combat vehicle, the Cartier Tank cemented itself as a marvel of mechanical watchmaking through its precise construction and its angular design language. That early on, the Cartier Tank already featured the now-iconic watch face with a shape not quite square, not quite rectangular. The Cartier Tank has since spawned multiple heirs throughout the brand’s century-long history.
That includes one of the newest successors, the Cartier Tank Américaine. Borne from the older Tank Cintrée, the newest iteration of the Tank Américaine is characterized by its sleek and rounded design with more compact casing, smoothing out the sharp-cornered detailing of the original. Rounded from edge to edge, the curved, rectangular body hugs tighter on the wrist, while its watch straps are made with selections of premium leather adorned with gold, steel, or diamond-paved bands.
Still, despite being one of the youngest in the Tank family, it retains the most beloved, most iconic, most recognizable attributes. In an act of revolutionizing Cartier’s history of designing precise watch movements, the model boasts the 1899 MC, a newly calibrated self-winding watch movement that has been tailor fit to accommodate the more modern, slimmer model of the Américaine.
From its war-torn lineage to its modern day legacy, the Cartier Tank Américaine has built its own identity as a slimmer, relaxed, and a curved take on the classic Tank silhouette. 35 years after its initial release, Cartier once again reintroduces the Américaine to the public in limited quantities.
To learn more, visit Cartier’s official website.
