2917 Cartier CPCP Tank Louis Dual Time

Cartier-CPCP-Tank-Dual-Time-2917

It’s been at least two years since I’ve seen one of these surface in the market, but that ends today. If over the last few years anyone thought the increased interest in vintage Cartier was a fad, neo or true vintage, nothing could be further from the truth. We’ve seen Cartier and particularly the watchmaking-focused…

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Cartier CPCP Tank Louis in Platinum

Cartier-CPCP-Tank-Louis-Platinum

It’s quite a luxury Cartier enjoy to both be viewed as a design-first watchmaker and simultaneously preside over a handful of the most timeless cases ever penned. Rolex’s Sub, Patek Philippe’s Perpetual Calendar, and indeed Cartier’s Tank all take a different approach to marketing, one best explained by looking at its antithesis. Trilobe are bringing…

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Cartier CPCP Tank À Guichets in Rose Gold

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This is a CPCP Tank À Guichets, or as I like to call it the Tankiest Tank. Cartier’s name is sexier, I admit. The Tank À Guichets has always been a limited release in Cartier, from first commission in 1928 until this 100 example run in 2004 over 90 years, it’s only ever been a…

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Cartier CPCP Basculante 2499C

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If this whole post seems backwards, it’s because we’re looking at something French with two faces. Or perhaps I should say a watch without a rear, because today describing something as two-faced and French is just how you pronounce Emmanuel Macron in English. This is the CPCP Basculante, with a quite rare exhibition caseback. Of…

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Chinese Dial Cartier CPCP Tank Cintrée Dual Time

China has 160 cities with over a million people. Their intense public transport spending has meant the entire country is connected by high speed rail, cars are not needed. China is producing everything for everyone, everywhere. The more mathematically minded, on the spectrum-types are working extremely hard (perhaps at gunpoint?) to not just compete with…

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Cartier CPCP 2846 Tank Monopoussoir

You may be forgiven for imagining that the Tortue was Cartier’s only design to receive that spectacular THA ébauche monopusher chronograph during the CPCP years. It is not so, but the second Monopoussoir, a Tank, is vanishingly rare by comparison at just 200 examples . . .ever. There are many reasons to adore the Tank…

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Cartier CPCP 1575 Santos Dumont

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A bastion of utility with elegant design in the modern era, the Santos Dumont is what a pilot’s watch looks like when dressed to the nines. The ‘Dumont’ here is important, a deliberate naming choice made by Cartier to reference the full name of Louis Cartier’s pilot friend who, in 1904, needed a wristwatch instead…

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Cartier CPCP Tank Louis in Platinum

Cartier-CPCP-Tank-Louis-in-Platinum

Where exquisite design meets considered watchmaking, great things happen. This is perhaps no more evident than Cartier’s 1998 Paris Collection Privee (CPCP) era. The collection aimed to resurrect greats from their past like the Cintrée, Santos, Tortue, and Tank à Vis with masterful mechanical movements. It is often forgotten that their most enduring design of time, the Louis Cartier…

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Cartier CPCP Tortue XL 8 Day Power Reserve

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Though the Santos and Tank take centre-stage, Cartier’s Tortue has a comparably lengthy history which often touches on interesting mechanics. From perpetual calendars to the extremely intricate monopoussoir, the Tortue has cased some of Cartier’s most interesting projects of recent decades. One of the least discussed iterations from the storied CPCP years is this 8…

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Cartier CPCP Tank à Vis Dual Time in White Gold

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Cartier are something of a master at evolving variations on a theme, all equally elegant. However, some are more equal than others. The CPCP era is, if not the most classic, Cartier’s most sincere attempt to flatter enthusiasts of traditional watchmaking. This Tank à Vis hails from that time, but is not the Tank you…

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