| wasn’t surprised when Harry told me about how limited Tank production was pre-1965, but it’s stark when you consider that, between the years of 1919-1965, there were only 2,200 pieces produced in total. After this time period, production would ramp up to 10,000 pieces annually and only grow from there. There is something uniquely Replica Cartier watches romantic about Cartier pieces from this early era when holding and wearing them, thinking about streets in Paris from a world long gone.
It would be prohibitive to go through each of the remaining 34 vintage Cartiers, but I did want to discuss a few that stood out to me. Ironically, one that I initially couldn’t take my eyes off wasn’t a Tank model, rather a stainless steel chronograph that dates back to 1950. Admittedly, I’d never seen one of these before, which is a bit surprising, though I can’t imagine more than a handful of these were ever produced.
A “Cartier Reverso” combines the replica Cartier Drive Silver Dial Alligator Strap WSNM0008 Cartier Tank with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso (JLC produced all their movements back in the day) in a gold and steel piece that dates to 1947. Note that this is not the Cartier Tank Basculante, which was Cartier’s own take on the reversible dial watch in a rectangular case.
The Tank is most often associated with the rectangular case, and there are several of these at Fane’s exhibit. A Cartier Tank “Gondole” from the 1970s has a stepped gold case and is quite reminiscent of the Patek Ellipse. However, a Ceinture Automatique, also from the 1970s, has a “belt buckle” case shape with crown protector that I can’t help but love largely due to the fact that it’s in white gold, which you don’t see often. |
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