Cartier Tank Basculante: Essence of a Tank Watch

Cartier is one of the most important brands in the history of wristwatches. If the Santos was the first Cartier wristwatch, the Tank is clearly the most iconic Cartier watch. I write "the Tank" but I should write "the Tank family". Collecting Cartier Tank watches would be enough for a fulfilled collector's life. Here is mine and maybe the first of a collection?

The Cartier Tank Basculante was launched in 1932. I'll say more about 1932 and the origin below. For the moment let's look at the watch. It may look like a competitor to the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso launched in 1931. In some way it is. An inner case pivots (in French we can also say "bascule" hence the name) inside an outer case, to return itself and protect the dial inside the "box".

The case of my modern Tank Basculante is quite similar to a Louis Cartier Tank, at least on the outside.

It is quite straight overall and rounded at the corners. It is in fact extremely simple and sensual.

The general design and dial is clearly Cartier. It is a simple watch with just hour and minute hands and a steel case, still it lacks no presence.

About the origin of the watch, it was created by "Spécialités Horlogères SA" a branch of distribution of LeCoultre. A patent was asked the 1^st of July 1932. In fact as you can see below the original Tank Basculante pictured - with a different case style from the modern version – is similar to the one shown on the patent file (itself taken from a JLC catalog).

The full patent drawing below clearly shows the original Tank Basculante. You can see that the overall design has very lightly changed in nearly 70 years (my watch is already ten years old). Only the case has been refined underneath and aligned on the Louis Cartier Tank style.

If the Reverso has been produced at the time for several brands, it seems that this Basculante design was reserved for Cartier. The "Cabriolet Reversible" as it was named at the time was produced in very low quantities until the relaunch in the late nineties.

It was in fact made to be part – in its modern life – of the Collection Privée Cartier Paris, the best modern attempt IMO to put back Cartier in the realm of high horology. This collection launched in the late nineties and now defunct reunited some very fine versions of the best classical designs of the Cartier wristwatch history.

My watch was not part of this collection as the CPCP was composed only of gold or platinum case watches. Still it was possibly the closest steel watch to what a CPCP watch was.

Below is pictured the platinum and pink gold Basculante. The watch was also offered in yellow gold.

The most appealing quality aspect of my Basculante is that it was fitted with the same calibre as the CPCP versions. It is a Frederic Piguet 6.10, a very thin (2.10mm) and small (15.3mm diameter) calibre of real high horology class. This small piece of horology is still quite precise after ten years of use!

I've always loved plain and engraved backs. They have a definitive charm and elegance. And to read "mécanique" on a Cartier back is a promise of style.

The inside of the « box » is decorated with the Cartier pattern.

Here is below the small calibre and its Cartier pattern as bridge decoration. My watch was equipped with a sapphire back on a steel watch as part of a limited production made for the French market for a year. Normal watches were made with a plain back aimed at receiving engravings. Some gold watches were even enamelled on the back side.

What could I say ? This watch is a simple and thin Tank. It exudes quality everywhere you look at it. It is original and very classy IMO but still elegant and discreet. It is a steel and very affordable Cartier but for me a real piece of high horology. It is what a Tank should be: a watch of style but a watch that you want to keep forever!

I hope to see Cartier come back to such fine pieces. They make some nice watches but they don't seem to keep making such fine pieces. For me a Cartier watch is a watch a king could wear. I'm not sure all current models could answer that request with a king of taste!

Best

Dje