Cartier Tank Louis Cartier Watches

“With its joints built into the case, it is both a square and a rectangle – a stroke of stylistic genius, unique in its genre, that consists of concealing the strap connection points under the famous sharp-edged flat vertical sidepieces of the Tank watch. Legend has it that Louis Cartier designed them, in 1917, based on by the horizontal section of the Renault military tanks. Created at the height of World War I, the first prototype of the Tank watch is given to General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe. The power of its design lies in the fact that it makes a clean break with the taste of the day for twists, imposing a formal rigour. The result is that it enjoys immediate popularity, a premonitory glimpse of a trend that overwhelmingly favours pure lines and stylistic elegance. Adopted by the most celebratory figures, from Indian princes to film stars, it bridges time, unchanging, contemporary in each of the consecutive epochs that reinstates it. The list of celebrities who contribute to keeping the myth alive is extensive, from Catherine Deneuve to Elton John, from Princess Diana to the sculptor, César Baldaccini.” - Cartier