What is special about Cartier Tank watch?

Part of what is special about the Cartier Tank watch is its unique design. Crafted by Cartier in 1917, one year before the Great War came to a close, the Tank reportedly borrowed its clean, sharp lines and boxy silhouette from France’s legendary Renault FT-17 light tank, itself a compact and extraordinary design that inspired numerous copies. The rectangular minute counter inside the numbers on the watch's face is meant to evoke railroad tracks.

The Tank watch is an icon — Jackie Kennedy wore one as an elegant accessory to her famously elegant wardrobe. It which was emblematic of a stark departure from the renowned jewelry house’s curved and round watch faces in that its case resembled the FT-17’s cockpit, served as a sleek update to the Santos watch. Louis Cartier (1875–1942), the grandson of the company’s founder, strengthened the family name as a formidable watchmaker and presented the first Tank prototype as a victory gift to General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front.

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