Courtesy of Cartier
The contemporary wristwatch’s popular 1996 iteration comes back into the limelight through a short film directed by Guy Ritchie
“I always romanticized being in Paris in the 20s. I think it was very romantic, very exuberant,” says actor Rami Malek, his eyes beaming when asked about which era he’d like to travel back in time to.
This Parisian fantasy became a reality once more—albeit through a short film—as Cartier pays tribute to New Wave Cinema and the birthplace of the Tank, Louis Cartier’s paradigmatic wristwatch.
Set in Alexandre III Bridge, the minute-long flick stars Malek alongside French actress Catherine Deneuve as their characters meet at different time periods on the left and right banks of the Seine—spanning the 1970s, 1990s, and all the way to modern-day Paris.
The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and features Deneuve in her lead roles in Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Regis Wargnier’s Indochine, and Nicole Garcia’s Place Vendôme. For Malek, he takes the role of a multi-talented artist, from painter to photographer to film director, showing the Tank in multiple iterations from its creation in 1917 to the 1996 Française.
A timepiece inspired by the treads of World War I tanks, the archetypal wristwatch has seen twelve reprisals of its well-known rectangular casing and aesthetic codes. These include the Normale, the Chinoise, Asymetrique, Must Cartier, Américaine, and Française.
More than 25 years since the Tank Française’s launch, the modern incarnation of the Cartier Tank debuts a metal bracelet and an inlaid crown that reflects the French modern state of mind—classicism and freedom all rolled into one.
With rounded brancards, its notable sunray watch dial with Roman numerals, and a mesh of flexible chain links in either yellow gold or silver satin finishes, the new Tank wristwatch was fashioned for anyone who wants to make an elegant statement. Whether it’s stepping out for Sunday brunch with friends or heading to a fancier occasion in a sleek suit, the Tank is a stunning detail.
In the Philippines, Cartier is located at Greenbelt 4, Solaire Resorts and Casino, and Rustan’s Shangri-La Plaza.
