Page 44 - PROTAGONIST 114

PROTAGONIST / PERFECT GEOMETRY

} There have been
more than
250 interpretations

of this
must-have watch

metaphor for the passing of time and for rendering the idea of was set to become a global phenomenon. At once on the wrists
travel. All these have always been the distinctive elements of the of all the greats (Indian maharajahs bought six of them at a time,
watch, a miracle of elegance, clarity and austerity; a style so mod- politicians and actors made it a personal item, starting from Ru-
ern that still today it continues to be a best seller. It seems that in dolf Valentino who had it written into his contract that through-
the early ‘20s the Tank lasted three weeks in the windows of Carti- out the filming of The Sheik he had to be shown wearing it), the
er shops. It was a resounding success. The first six were sold to- Tank ‘tolerated’ variations splendidly. There have been more than
gether (it is said that the first prototype was gifted to General John 250 reinterpretations: in its shape, its materials (including plati-
Pershing of the American Expeditionary Force), and the watch num, already at the start of its career), its styling and its models

Above, the British actor, comedian and director Noël Coward, portrayed wearing a Tank in his home, Goldenhurst Farm,
in Kent, in 1935. Adjoining page, Andy Warhol, photographed in his studio in 1973; he said he
certainly not wear his Tank for telling the time, since he didn’t even wind it: “I wear a Tank because it is the watch to wear!”

44 PROTAGONIST / N. 114

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