The Tank has for much of its history been deemed a rare watch, with Cartier limiting production during the first 50 years, but it continued to grace the wrists of cultural icons, from Clark Gable to Muhammed Ali. Duke Ellington, Rudolph Valentino and Cesar are just a few of the other well-known Tank owners. Throw in the French couturiers, Pierre Balmain, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, and Yves Saint Laurent, and it's no surprise that the watch has become one of the most recognised status symbols of the 21st century. Artist Andy Warhol, an avid Tank collector, once admitted, “I don’t wear a Tank to tell the time. In fact, I never wind it. I wear it because it’s the watch to wear.”
It’s fundamentally androgynous, too. Elizabeth Taylor had one, as well as Jackie Kennedy- Onassis and the late Princess Diana. Michelle Obama even posed for a White House portrait wearing her stainless steel Tank Française.
Launched in 1996, the Tank Française would go on to become Cartier’s bestseller and perhaps the most recognised Tank of our generation. But this year the maison has released a possible challenger: the Tank Anglaise.
