Marv
356
The Tank Basculante
Apr 07, 2010,15:44 PM
I would like to share with you a personnal view on my Tank Basculante.
As you may know, the Tank Watch was created in 1917 by Cartier. It was inspired by the armored military vehicles, which were used in the 1st World War: a rectangular shape with legs that extend straight beyong the case.
The Tank Basculante is born 15 years later, in 1932. At that time, many other watchmakers were offering reversing watch. We all know the reverso created in 1931, but there were many other models with alternative reversing systems (Remember the Universal Geneve Cabriolet).
Cartier was even one of the first watchmakers to introduce a tipping watch with this very basic model in 1926.
sourced from "Cartier, The Tank Watch" by Cologni
With its case that can turn 360° around its horizontal axis, the Tank Basculante is not only a playful watch, it is a pure sculptural object.
The dial is very pure, very "Cartier" with its Guilloche and Roman Numerals.
The lack of the second hand increases the sculptural presence of the watch.
In addition to the dial, the blue cabochon is another strong signature of Cartier. It ecos nicely the blued-steel hands.
The surface finishing of the stainless stell case alternates satin brushed polish and mirror polish. This nice finishing highlights the harmonious homothecy of the 3 interlinked components.
This high quality of execution contibutes to my perception of: First a sculptural object, then and only then a watch (reason why I won't bother you with mechanical consideration about the manual-winding movement even if it deserves attention).
And when I say a sculptural object...
This tilting model is not the most famous version of the Tank but I thought it was worth presenting it here as it combines successfully a strong design, a playful feature and pure elegance.
Hope you enjoyed it!
This message has been edited by SJX on 2010-04-08 22:23:02