1990 Cartier Tank Basculante (Ref. 2386)

It's common knowledge that the Cartier Tank is one of the most iconic watch designs of all time, and other than some more eclectic references produced has remained relatively the same over its long run of production. The Cartier Tank was originally designed in 1917 and became commercially available in 1919, and its design was inspired by the Renault FT-17 tank used by the French Military in the First World War. Although the Cartier Tank appears to have remained the same for the course of its design life, there are some interesting anomalies that happened during its production run that resulted in very collectible and very rare timepieces.

The first Tank Basculante Mécanique was released from Cartier in 1932. At the time, it was a miraculously thin mechanical watch for Cartier (or any brand) to produce. The original Basculante housed a 2.1mm 610 calibre, which was made by Piguet. Similar in style to the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, which was released a year prior, the Basculante is said to provide better protection to the face of the watch when reversed and in contrast, uses a swinging inner frame as opposed to JLC's sliding track style reversing mechanism. The Basculante also hosts the crown at the 12 o'clock position, and still reveals Cartier's signature sapphire cabochon no matter which direction the dial faces. The namesake comes from the French word, bascule, which appropriately translates to 'seesaw'. The Cartier Basculante ref. 2396, is an updated version of the original and is powered by a reliable quartz movement and would make for the perfect dress piece for a man, or a stylish accessory for a lady!