Luxe And Glory

As the Cartier Tank celebrates its 100th anniversary, we look back at the timepiece that literally debuted with a bang

- Leong Wong

Never has there been a watch that’s so politically entrenched as the Cartier Tank, the second wristwatch created by Louis Cartier. Drawing inspiration from the new Renault battle tanks he saw in action during World War I, Cartier designed the Tank Normale, a watch modelled after the top view of the actual military tank.

Interestingly, the Tank’s sober, rectangular design also owes as much to Art Deco inspirations as it does to military vehicles. A jeweller by trade, Louis Cartier was drawn to new shapes and interesting designs. Fascinated by geometry and abstract profiles, Cartier began to move away from the overwrought Art Nouveau aesthetics of that time, and gravitated towards the clean and simple – yet ornamental looks – proposed by the then-burgeoning Art Deco movement, the results of which can be seen on the Tank Normale, which set the template for all the other Tank collections that were to follow.

The first Tank Normale was a prototype gifted to American General John Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe, in 1917. But it wasn’t until 1919 when the Tank was properly produced. Six pieces were manufactured and all promptly sold out.