Balagan 0 Posted February 3, 2013 Dear fellows, Browsing through Cartier section I stumbled upon several posts where Tank de Cartier (namely "Tank française") was considered as a lady watch. Well, in the past 10 years gentlemen's watches kept growing and many lads do not feel safe wearing anything smaller than 44 mm PAM (yes they are lovely)... Nevertheless Tank is and always was positioned as a true gent's watch, that, starting from the 60's, was progressively discovered by the ladies in seek of emancipation. There are loads of info on this in French, let me share some pics for those interested. Since the very beginning (1917) inspired by WWI (World War I, not Mary!) French Renault tank, the watch was clearly targeted at male audience: The watch case had many versions, but was consistently positioned as a classy dress watch for the "men of taste": The Truman Capote story, where, offended by an ugly watch a journalist was wearing he offers him a Tank, is quite famous: "Take that ugly watch off your wrist and put on that one!" Embarrassed by the generosity, a journalist tried not to accept the writer's Tank watch, but Capote confessed: "I beg you, keep it, I have at least seven at home! " Expert Cartier's marketing managed to put the Tank at many iconic wrists: Duke Ellington-tank a guichets Gary "Lou Gehrig" Cooper Clark Gable Yves Montand ... and many others. So, please, do not hesitate to put a 36-38 mm watch on! It's a great gent's classic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nisv 0 Posted February 3, 2013 Nice writeup, thanks for sharing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balagan 0 Posted February 3, 2013 Hmm... Actually, I wanted to ask the folks whether a decent rep in gen size (~37x28) was ever made, but I went a bit overboard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
parisianshut 0 Posted February 25, 2013 Hmm... Actually, I wanted to ask the folks whether a decent rep in gen size (~37x28) was ever made, but I went a bit overboard. i searched but didn't find a good quality rep of this one. it's like the Lecoutre Reverso... impossible to find a good rep. classy watch are so much better Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
myaz 3 Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks for this interesting bit of history......now to resize my wife's Tank , got no fear of smaller watches, nowadays, a few wear watches that are so big, they detract rather than compliment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aren 27 Posted July 15, 2013 Yes, a very nice write up. Thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheInthusiest 0 Posted July 15, 2013 A newbie with knowledge. A rare occurrence, great write! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chats 1 Posted October 13, 2013 wow, thats a great story. what makes a great timepiece is the story behind it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
