Cartier Tank Allongée 'Duoplan' Two-Tone 18K YG & WG Case W/ 18K RG Bracelet, 1940s

Dealer description — Craft & Tailored

The Cartier name is synonymous with luxury and has been since the brand's inception in 1847. Offering bespoke and unique jewelry to the world’s elite allowed Cartier to grow steadily through the 19th century and eventually introduced new offerings to their clientele. While the most recognizable watch models such as the Tank, Baignoire, and Santos Dumont are primarily celebrated and deseringly so, throughout Cartier's illustrious heritage the Maison created and produced numerous watch designs, from the most simple to extravagant. Being that Cartier was always a design and jewelry house first, they never really entered the realm of high-watchmaking themselves. Instead, the Maison was a resourceful collaborator with master watchmakers to supply the movement for their designs to encase, most notably Audemars Piguet and Jaeger-LeCoultre, as well as the European Watch & Clock Company which was a joint venture between Edmund Jaeger and Cartier. It's believed that one of the most innovative movements was developed through this collaboration, the Duo-Plan, changing the possibilities of watchmaking forever. Allegedly, Jaeger-LeCoultre developed the Duo-Plan movement for Cartier exclusively at first. This unique system was created to make the smallest possible watch movements, and this was accomplished by stacking the movement components on two planes, hence the name "Duo-Plan". This effectively reduced the footprint of the movement by half without compromising the integrity or quality of the components. The Duo-Plan movement family consisted of 4 calibers, with the cal. 101 being the smallest and still sparingly produced today, followed by the cal. 104, cal. 403, and the cal. 409 all slightly increasing in size respectively. It's believed that Cartier's exclusivity of the Duo-Plan ended in 1922, opening up JLC and other brands to create their own designs using the Duo-Plan system. That didn't stop Cartier from utilizing the Duo-Plan movement, however, with some incredibly unique watches being created by Cartier using the system throughout the 20th century. This extravagant, unique, and beautiful Cartier Tank Allongée from the 1940s employs the iconic cal. 409 Duo-Plan movement, which accomplishes a very symmetrical aesthetic with the backwind design. More interestingly, however, is the construction of the case itself, consisting of a seamless 18K yellow gold and 18K white gold two-tone construction. Completing this tri-metal design is the 18K rose gold bracelet, which perfectly complements the bright salmon-colored dial. SPECS Stock # CRTDPTA Brand Cartier Style Tank Allongée 'Duoplan' Model N/A Serial 4621 / 14XX Size Men's / Unisex Material 18K Yellow Gold / 18K White Gold Dial Salmon Millimeters 19 X 32.5 Bracelet 18K RG Bracelet W/ 18K WG Clasp CASE & BRACELET The impressive 18K yellow gold and 18K white gold construction is beautifully executed and remains extremely well-preserved, showing evidence of only very gentle polishing in the past and nominal signs of use. The hallmarks present on both the front and back of the case remain deep and fully present. The Cartier inventory number is located on the top right lug and remains present and legible, accompanied by two other hand engravings on the top left and bottom right lugs as well. The sloped-glass crystal is in great condition with minor marks from wear present. The 18K rose gold bracelet also features an 18K white gold deployant clasp, keeping with the multi-color tone theme of the watch. The bracelet was sourced with the watch and we believe it to either be original or custom made for the watch soon after it was originally purchased as it appears to be of Cartier make or closely resembling similar Cartier bracelets of the era, however, it does not feature Cartier stamps or hallmarks. The bracelet is currently sized to fit a 6 1/2-inch wrist. DIAL & HANDS The vibrant salmon dial is in exceptional condition, especially for its age, showing only minor marks and subtle hand drag below the hand stack. The black text and printing of the dial all remain in exceptional condition. The original blued hands are in excellent condition as well. ACCESSORIES None. The watch is running, but is not keeping time, a movement service can be provided upon request when purchased.