The story of the Cartier Tank
Jacqueline Kennedy wore a gold Tank engraved for a 50-mile walk for decades, and Princess Diana took up the gold Tank Francaise in 1996, the year it launched. Few watches have passed so easily from wrist to wrist as a signature.
Chapters
- 1952 to 1969Gold for a First Lady
New variants such as the 1952 Rectangulaire and the 1960 Mini Tank Allongee kept the family growing. In 1963 Prince Stanislaw Radziwill gave his sister-in-law Jacqueline Kennedy a gold Tank, which she went on to wear for decades.
- 1932 to 1936Flipped and tilted
A year after the Reverso, the 1932 Basculante let its case pivot in a frame to protect the glass during polo or cricket. The 1936 Asymetrique skewed case and dial so that 12 o'clock sat in the top right corner and the crown at 2.
- 1921 to 1928Stretched, squared, rethought
Cartier kept reshaping the idea: the long, curved Cintree in 1921, the Chinoise with bars said to recall temple porticos and the larger Tank Louis Cartier in 1922. The 1928 Tank a Guichets dropped the dial for two windows, the house's first jumping-hour watch.
- 1917 to 1919Six watches to begin
The Tank hid its lugs inside vertical brancards so the case ran straight into the strap, and an ultra-thin Jaeger calibre kept it flat. It broke with Art Nouveau and pointed toward Art Deco. Full production began in 1919 with just six pieces.
Worn by
Her 18k gold Tank, a gift from Prince Stanislaw Radziwill, was engraved for his February 1963 50-mile walk and stayed on her wrist for decades.
She wore a 1980s Tank Louis on black leather, thought to be from her father, and a gold Tank Francaise from 1996.
Photographed around Tribeca and Manhattan wearing a Tank on a black leather strap; its origin has been debated since 2017.
She wore a Tank Francaise at the Alliance for Children's Rights gala in March 2026, read by the press as a nod to Diana.
Valentino wore his Tank in The Son of the Sheik (1926), which tied the line to Hollywood leading men.
Moments
2017. At Christie's New York the same watch drew more than a dozen bids in three minutes and sold for $379,500, over triple its $120,000 top estimate.
1963. The engraving on Jacqueline Kennedy's Tank, "Stas to Jackie 23 Feb. 63", marks a 50-mile walk in Palm Beach that President Kennedy had challenged Americans to complete.
1928. The Tank a Guichets replaced the dial with two windows showing jumping hours and turning minutes, Cartier's first watch with that complication.
Generations and strap changes
- 2021Tank Must relaunch
Cartier revived the Must name with quartz Tank Must models in lacquered colours and a solar SolarBeat version.
Coloured dial versions come on matching straps.
- 2012Larger Louis Cartier, Anglaise
The Tank Louis Cartier grew to 34.9 x 40.4 mm, and the new Tank Anglaise hid its crown inside a brancard.
- 1996Tank Française
The Française came with a chain-link bracelet integrated into the case. Watchonista dates it to 1995.
Integrated bracelet, unlike the strap-mounted brancards of earlier Tanks.
- 1989Tank Américaine
A slim, curved Tank created in 1989; the first Américaine models had quartz movements.
- 1977Must de Cartier Tank
The Must Tank used a vermeil silver case with quartz or mechanical movements, the first time Cartier produced a watch on a larger scale and in a non-precious metal.
- 1922Tank Chinoise
A square case with extra horizontal bars above and below the dial, inspired by Chinese temple porticos.
- 1921Tank Cintrée
A very curved, slim Tank shaped to follow the wrist, made in small editions of 50 to 100 pieces.
- 1919Tank Normale on sale
The first Tanks reached the open market, with a rectilinear case framed by two parallel brancards.
- 1917Tank conceived
Louis Cartier conceived the Tank, inspired by the Renault tank, and a prototype went to General John Pershing.
Firsts and innovations
The 1977 Must de Cartier was the first time the Tank was not made in precious metal.