If there is a downside to being a brand with a genuine design icon on its books then it’s surely the challenge of keeping that product exciting and fresh, without messing up the things that made it iconic in the first place.
Cartier introduced its Tank in 1917, said to be fashioned after the shape of tank treads. It was at the forefront of a craze for rectangular watches at the time, but its position as a unisex classic has endured way past that – for over 100 years.
Many Tanks have followed, including in 1977 the introduction of the Tank Must – a more affordable Tank line released in part to offset the damage being inflicted by cheaper Japanese-made watches powered by quartz.
Instead of the solid gold or platinum cases of previous Tank watches the Tank Must line featured sterling silver cases covered with gold and either ETA-based mechanical or quartz movements, rather than the slim Frédéric Piguet mechanical movements found in other Tanks.
This year the Tank Must is a key focus for Cartier. And while there is a range of them with coloured dials (and no Roman numerals), the most intriguing new model is a version powered by a the house’s new invention – a “Solarbeat” photovoltaic movement – which Cartier claims can convert light into power, like solar panels hidden under invisible perforations in the Roman numerals on the watch face.
Cartier says this Tank will keep on trucking for at least 16 years. Put it away in a drawer for a couple of months and as soon as it comes into contact with light again (natural or electric) it’ll spring back to life.
It took the development team four years to get right, so doubtless we’ll be seeing the technology across other models in years to come.
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