287 Cartier A historically important, one of three, Tank à Guichets, manual wristwatch in platinum, made for "Magical Art of Cartier" Auction in 1996.
Estimate: € 80.000 – 160.000
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- Model Tank à Guichets
- Year 1996
- Case Material Platinum
- Case Number N°3/3, A113722
- Bracelet Material Leather strap
- Movement Manual, cal. 219, 18 jewels
- Movement Number 9'303'955
- Dimension 24mm width x 26.5mm length
- Signed Case, dial and movement
- Literature This specific watch was previously sold in Antiquorum Geneva "The magical art of Cartier" auction November 19th 1996, as lot 208 for CHF 108,000.
When Cartier unveiled the Tank à Guichets in 1928, it was nothing short of radical. At a time when most wristwatches still relied on traditional hands and dials, Cartier chose abstraction: no visible hands, no conventional dial, only two discreet apertures, one for the jumping hours, one for the dragging minutes. It was modernism distilled into a watch. Production in the late 1920s and 1930s was extremely limited and largely reserved for select clients. These were not catalogue pieces but discreet commissions for individuals who understood, and desired, something intellectually daring. As a result, early Guichets are today considered among the most important and elusive creations in Cartier’s entire oeuvre. After disappearing from production for decades, the Tank à Guichets resurfaced for the first time only in the 20th century: in 1996, on the occasion of the legendary “Magical Art of Cartier” sale. For that event, Cartier created just nine examples, three in yellow gold, three in rose gold, and three in platinum, each numbered from 1 to 3. The present watch, numbered 3/3, is one of those three made in platinum and therefore one of just nine modern Guichets ever produced. Within Cartier collecting circles, these 1996 examples occupy an almost mythical position: they bridge the audacity of the 1928 original with the scholarship and revivalist precision of the late 20th century. The Tank à Guichets not only represents a variation within the Tank family but it is an icon of design thinking, a watch that anticipated minimalism decades before it became fashionable. To encounter one is exceptional. To encounter one of three, created for a landmark auction, places this piece firmly among the most significant and desirable Tank à Guichets ever made.
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