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PROTAGONIST / PERFECT GEOMETRY

tank, with armoured bodywork and caterpillar tracks, which was he signed another with the Swiss Maison, LeCoultre (subsequent-
making its furious debut on the western front in those days. Shortly ly the two collaborators ‘merged’ to become one large Maison),
after that cover appeared, the watch was ready, although a few years an eminent producer of those same movements. Thanks to these
would pass before it was marketed. In 1917, Louis Cartier, whose agreements, Cartier knew he was now free to experiment with style
jeweller’s soul assuredly united his craftsman’s skill with remarka- to his heart’s content. And so the timeless shape that still enchants
ble aesthetic sensitivity and made him, in those years, part of the today was born. Let us look at it once more because it is a revolu-
vanguard of the artistic revolutions of the time tionary watch, for its design that is reduced to the
(from cubism to Art Deco, which would come } A design pared to minimum, yet can undergo variations without ever
a few short years later to consecrate the ideas of the minimum, losing its dazzling identity. The brancards, the lat-
Cartier, too), was ready for his object-icon. He eral bars that enclose the square case, indicate the
had already had the experience of the Santos yet able to undergo momentous moving on from the traditional round
and the Tonneau, two precursor watches of the changes without case; the end of the strap that flows seamlessly in-
period: so appropriate for wearing on the wrist, ever losing its iconic to the side bars is the winning element of an un-
and also, in their own way, so completely new. personality mistakable silhouette; the cabochon crown, often
adorned with a blue sapphire, is both a functional
irst of all, though, Cartier chose his col- and a decorative element (solving the problem of
laborators and stipulated, pretty much definitively, the tech- the winder and, protruding from starched cuffs under a tuxedo,
Fnical issues: he signed a 14-year contract with Edmond Jae- adding a remarkably chic touch); the Roman numerals radiating
ger (guaranteeing him a princely 250,000 francs a year in sales), outwards, with the distinctive bold-stroke calligraphy; the outline
who was a maestro at designing ultra-flat or thin movements and of the chapter ring, which is marked in chemin de fer; the sword
a creator of closure systems; a master watchmaker, in short. Then or apple hands, often in blued steel; the railway track is a perfect

Above, left, Alain Delon and Jean-Pierre Melville show off their Tank Arrondies on the set of the film ‘Dirty Money’, 1972. Right, Tank Must
de Cartier, in vermeil, blue spinel cabochon on the winding crown, dial in onyx lacquer, black strap
in lizard skin, circa 1977. Adjoining page, the ever beautiful Angelina Jolie wears her Tank: his wrist is perfect for the iconic time-piece.

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