On the occasion of the Watches and Wonders exhibition in Geneva, Cartier unveiled its new limited edition of the Tank Chinoise.
Each year, the Cartier Private Collection revives an iconic piece from the House’s heritage. The Chinese Tank, designed just 100 years ago, is the sixth icon to join this closed club. The timepiece was first introduced in 1922 but has not been produced since 2004, making it one of the company’s rarest models. Last Wednesday, at the Watches and Wonders exhibition, Cartier announced several new products, including the grand return of the Tank Chinoise.
Since the launch of the Tank in 1917, many variations have been added to Cartier’s flagship collection. There is the elegant Tank Cintrée, the Tank à guichets and the sophisticated Tank Basculante, to name but a few. But unlike the Cloche or the Asymetrical, the Chinoise is not particularly atypical in shape. While the original Tank is based on the shape of the tanks of the First World War, the Chinoise was inspired by the porticoes of Chinese temples.
But Cartier has not simply modernised the version. Indeed, the most remarkable of the two new interpretations features an openworked dial that reveals the movement’s workings through a transparent window, like a traditional Chinese window. The second is wonderfully designed as it was in the past: the dial remains the same, except that it is available in gold, pink gold and platinum.
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Cartier has often been inspired by world culture, as the exhibition devoted this winter in Paris to the links between the company and Islamic art reminded us. But the influence of Asian, and more particularly Chinese, iconography on Louis Cartier should not be underestimated. It is therefore a return to the roots for these two new limited edition Chinese Tanks.
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Featured photo : © Cartier
