Cartier Tank Cintrée Montenapoleone: a tribute to Milan

At each edition of Watches and Wonders Geneva, one of the pavilions in which attendees are sure to find some amazing novelty is that of Cartier. The Parisian jeweller always enchants with unexpected pieces, capable of reinventing its aesthetic canons each time. Now the brand has done it again, far from the Geneva pavilions, with a watch that represents a gift to a city very dear to us here at Watch Insanity: Milan. Recently unveiled at the city’s boutique, the Tank Cintrée Montenapoleone is a present to the Lombard capital, to its way of experiencing style, to the hospitality of a city that has been a second home for Cartier for 50 years, ever since the boutique was opened in 1974 on the street of fashion and luxury.

WHEN WAS THE CARTIER CINTRÉE TANK BORN?

The choice of the Tank Cintrée Montenapoleone to pay homage to Milan is no coincidence. In Cartier’s rich catalogue, this watch is in fact one of the most classically elegant and sophisticated models with a design that is nevertheless always contemporary, in line with the style that characterises the city. This, despite the fact that the genesis of the model is not yet fully known, unlike that of the Tank. As is well known, Louis Cartier’s inspiration for the Tank comes from the modern Renault tanks that dominated the front lines during the First World War: their symmetrical shape struck him incredibly. The result was a uniquely shaped case that became a symbol of the brand and has been re-imagined several times. One of the most enigmatic and eye-catching variants is the Tank Cintrée.

However, the story of the Tank Cintrée‘s birth is somewhat less clear. Initially launched a few years after the Tank, in 1921, its elongated shape was unique for the time, marking somewhat of a breaking point. However, it is not known when exactly Louis Cartier began designing the watch. What is certain, though, is the period in which it was born: the Roaring Twenties.

On the one hand, the cultural and artistic movements born in that decade of economic prosperity following the First World War inspired its unusual shape, which captured the glamour and exuberance of the time while adopting Art Deco design principles as well. On the other hand, the fact that wristwatches were a novelty in those years – and convincing men to wear a watch on their wrist and not in their pocket was not an easy task. This is thought to be one of the reasons why the curved case was adopted: a watch that hugged the wrist seemed more comfortable and natural to wear than many other pieces of the time, which had a more rudimentary round or square design. 

While the creation process of the Tank Cintrée may be obscure, its birthplace is certain. The watch was created by Cartier in Paris, at a time when the brand’s three subsidiaries – Paris, London and New York – operated in a relatively independent way. Although similar watches later appeared in New York and London, the original versions made in the early 1920s were all designed, produced and sold in Paris.

TANK CINTRÉE MONTENAPOLEONE: A PLATINUM WORK

Be that as it may, the Tank from which this watch descends quickly became a timeless symbol, with an infinite creative potential that led to numerous variations over the decades, each in line with the period in which they saw the light of day. The first of these was the 1923 Tank Cintrée which, after the 1921 version with the curved case that amazed the world, was first made in platinum – a reference of which unfortunately no known examples remain (the oldest platinum Tank Cintrée that has come down to us is from the following year). We did not write about platinum references by chance: this is in fact the metal making up the case of the Tank Cintrée Montenapoleone.

This exclusive edition of the watch has a classic 46.3 x 23 mm case with a thickness of 6.9 mm, elegantly combined with a cabochon ruby on the crown. The case finish is refined with brushed horizontal sides and polished vertical sides. The dial is made of a silvered opaline with galvanic treatment and bears the symbols of Milan, interpreted in the discreet but distinctive style of Cartier. No big snake, the symbol of the Visconti family, but something more subtle. The Tank Cintrée Montenapoleone is inspired by the city’s coat of arms, ‘D’argento alla croce di rosso’ (a silver Samnite shield on which is superimposed a red cross), with silver on the dial and red on the alligator strap, in the cabochon and on the hourmarkers, and on the numbers 1 (ten of 12) and 6. Which together make up 16, the street number on Via Montenapoleone where the Cartier boutique is located.

This play with the indexes was also present on the Cartier Tank Asymétrique Milano Limited Edition of2021, a watch of only 16 pieces created to celebrate the reopening of the boutique. On that watch, both the colour of the indices and that of the strap tended more towards burgundy. For the rest, the dial of the Tank Cintrée Montenapoleone houses a reinterpretation of the aesthetic codes of the 2004 reference, which marked the modern relaunch of the model: a chemin-de-fer minute track, Arabic numerals and ‘pomme évidée’ hands. The back bears the ‘Milano Edition’ inscription.

THE CALIBRE AND UNIQUENESS OF THE CARTIER TANK CINTRÉE

The Tank Cintrée Montenapoleone is driven by the calibre 1917 MC, a small, thin hand-wound mechanical movement with a tonneau shape. The calibre number refers to the year in which Louis Cartier created the first Tank watch, 1917. It is a movement whose elongated design enabled the brand to solve the problem of fitting a round calibre into rectangular Tank watches. It works at 21,600 vibrations per hour and has a 38-hour power reserve.

With its tonneau shape measuring 12.95 x 16 mm, this tiny calibre, less than 3 mm thick and decorated with Côtes de Genève, is featured inside some of the Parisian jeweller’s most refined and elegant references. A paramagnetic alloy shield is integrated into the case to ensure adequate protection of the movement. 

Unlike the Cartier Tank Asymétrique Milano Limited Edition which, as we have seen, was made in 16 pieces, the Tank Cintrée Montenapoleone is not a limited edition but has, by necessity, a limited production run, mainly based on demand. Its price of €39,200 is very attractive for several reasons: it is a platinum watch, a special edition and, compared to most of the other Tank Cintrée watches in the current collection, it costs significantly less.

The Tank Cintrée Montenapoleone has all the characteristics of a very special watch. Starting with the consideration that few models have enjoyed such longevity as the Cintrée. More than a century later it remains relevant, and for a design – of a car, a watch, a piece of furniture – to continue to be attractive after more than a hundred years is an extraordinary achievement. The impact of the Cintrée collection is even more remarkable when one considers the number of pieces produced over the years: there has never been a steady flow of examples on the market and, even today, Cartier does not want to produce them in large quantities. A choice that helps to keep the watch and its design special and timeless.

By Davide Passoni