Tank à Guichets by Cartier: A Century of Modern Beauty

Cartier is a maison that has always been held to a higher aesthetic standard. It isn’t enough for a Cartier timepiece to be accurate or reliable. It must also be sculptural, referential, and poetic. It must feel like an object of beauty and art. It must be exhibited at the Louvre a hundred years from now. Seriously.

This year’s standout men’s release from Cartier, the new Tank à Guichets from the Privé collection, is just that. It is a modern resurrection of a piece originally launched in 1928, and arrives with the kind of quiet confidence that only Cartier can pull off. A mechanical watch with no hands. No numerals on display. No dial in the traditional sense. Just two apertures: one displays the jumping hours; the other, the dragging minutes. The apertures are set into a brushed metal face that feels more like a piece of architecture than a piece of jewelry.

Cartier’s original Tank à Guichets was avant-garde in the truest sense, not ornamental. It came at a time when modernism was taking root, when function itself was aesthetic. In that spirit, this reissue does not seek to embellish; it seeks to clarify, to minimize. The case is 37.6 by 24.8 mm, available in yellow gold, rose gold, and platinum, plus a special platinum model with a slightly different aperture layout. This platinum variant, limited to 200 pieces, shifts the polished apertures slightly off-center—a playful tribute to 1930s design codes, a detail collectors will appreciate instantly. The striking apertures stand out markedly against the metal case.

Powering it is the new caliber 9755 MC, a hand-wound mechanical movement developed specifically for this piece. It jumps the hours, drags the minutes, and hides itself completely behind the closed façade. There’s no exhibition caseback, no visible rotor, no fanfare. Which, in a way, makes the movement even more Cartier: it is entirely in service to beauty.

And yes, the watch in person is a thing of beauty. A sculpted yet architectural feel for the case, the glint from the polished apertures. It is something to slip easily and cleanly under a tailored sleeve, or to roll around in the hand when someone notices. Cartier has spent several years exploring complications, yet it is also the basics—such as the watches from the Tank lines—that have been showing much growth. You may not want or need the new Tank à Guichets as a watch, but it undoubtedly draws you in as a thing of timeless beauty.

This article originally appeared in Robb Report Philippines’ Watches and Jewelry Issue, August 2025.