The Cartier Privé collection highlights the design of the Maison’s legendary watches. Since 2015, Cartier Privé has been releasing variations in limited and numbered series. Following the Crash watch, the Tank Cintrée and the Tonneau watch — the first models to be reinterpreted by the Cartier watchmaking design studio— it is the Tank Asymétrique’s turn to enter the exclusive circle of this connoisseurs’ club.
The Tank was Louis Cartier’s bright idea to give a watch the shape of a rectangle in 1917, at a time when timepieces were round. From 1917 to 1936, it saw multiple incarnations. When it appeared in 1936, the Tank Asymétrique watch —also known at the time as the Parallélogramme or Losange— marked a break with tradition: unlike any other watch, it questioned the established order of things.
Cartier Tank Asymétrique from 1936
In addition, certain models saw the axis of symmetry in the center of the watch replaced by a special insert. This detail, which had nothing to do with aesthetics, was unique to the watch, making it highly rare today. With its two horizontal shafts connected by two oblique ones, and its numerals off-set by 30 degrees to the right, the presence of this new Tank Asymétrique on the wrist is striking.
In addition to the other three Cartier Tank Asymétrique watches we presented you here, Cartier releases three skeleton models. On the Tank Asymétrique skeleton watch, the 9623 MC skeleton movement appears at the center of a bare structure, punctuated by the 12 and the 6. The integration of this specially developed calibre within an asymmetric watch fulfills the mission of the Cartier Privé collection, which is to apply technology to the service of design. The movement, articulated on these two Roman numerals and the indexes, becomes the window to a surprising case.
Paired with a case measuring 47.15 mm x 26.2 mm x 6.38 mm, the Cartier Asymétrique Skeleton is available in pink gold with grey and brown alligator straps, in platinum with blue and black alligator straps, and in platinum with a crown set with a brilliant-cut diamond (0.12 ct) and its case and buckle set with 250 brilliant-cut diamonds (2.08 cts) paired with blue and black straps. Each of these three different models comes in a limited edition of 100 numbered pieces.
Sticker Price $70.000 USD for platinum, $61,000 USD for pink gold, and price for Platinum with Diamonds TBC. For more info on Cartier click here.
