An iconic piece of horological heritage, the Cartier Tank has grown from its humble roots in 1917 as a rectangular dress watch into a collection spanning an incredible array of styles, inspirations, and designs. Perhaps one of the most unique of those styles is the Cabriolet Reversible (later becoming known as the Basculante) which was released in the 1930s and featured the ability to flip over itself on the vertical plane from 12 to 6 o'clock as inspired by the horizontal rotation built within the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso.
Taking inspiration from that very same watch once more, the Cartier Tank "Reverso" is an unusual blend of Cartier's Tank and Jaeger LeCoultre's Reverso in what is a fittingly 70s timepiece given the avant-garde and off-the-wall designs that were being created as watchmakers took on the onslaught of the Quartz Crisis. Rotating on its horizontal 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock plane just like the Reverso, the Tank "Reverso" enabled Cartier to often fit the Tank with a second dial that would allow for the tracking and display of a second timezone.
Fitted within a timeless and elegant 18ct yellow gold rectangular case, this 32mm x 23mm beauty packs a punch with its manual-winding cal. 610 movement and classical white lacquered dial complete with black Roman numerals, Cartier's signature railroad minute track, and blued-steel sword-shaped hands. Worn by famous faces such as French actor Alain Delon, the Tank "Reverso" blends the elegance of the Tank with the functionality and innovation of the Reverso for a wonderfully unique piece of watchmaking history that is seldom seen in today's modern collecting landscape.
