Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Cartier Tank Louis 'Reverso', Paris Signed
- Maker / attribution
- Cartier (maker)
- Date
- 1930s
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- France
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Stock no.
- SQ5298582
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Oliver & Clarke (SQ5298582)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Cartier Tank Louis 'Reverso' - Paris Signed (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Oliver & Clarke (dealer), United Kingdom (stock number SQ5298582), this is a wristwatch by Cartier, made in France, dated 1930s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Oliver & Clarke
Straight Facts Inspired by the Renault Tanks used on the battlefield in WWI - yes, thats a true story - the Cartier Tank Louis is one of the worlds most iconic watch designs - and has spawned many variants. One such variant - dating from the 1930s - is the Cabriolet Reversible, later known as the Basculante. This was an early Cartier attempt at the ‘Reverso’ style watch cases that were being made by Jaeger LeCoultre at the time. Ironic, considering that Jaeger provided the early Cartiers with their watch movements courtesy of a sub-brand called European Watch & Clock Co. Eventually, Cartier revisited the reversible watch case with a full-on Cartier Reverso in the 1960s - of which this particular watch hails. French actor Alain Delon famously owned of these pieces, which were all sold by the French arm of Cartier, and why they are all stamped ‘Paris’ on the dial. Aesthetically speaking, this Cartier marries the elegance of the Tank, with the inventiveness of Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso in a two-for-one style play that is hard to beat. *Some marks or spots on the dial are reflections or dust on the crystal and are due to high intensity strobe lighting used while photographing. They are not actually on the watch or visible in natural lighting.
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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