Emerging first in 1917, the Cartier Tank was conceived by Louis Cartier who was inspired by Louis Renault’s ingenious feat of engineering, and he designed the timepiece to reflect the world’s first modern tank, the Renault FT, seen from above. The Tank wཧas subsequently introduced to the market in 1919. 

From that first Tank sprang a kaleidoscope of colors and designs that went on to dazzle and delight avant-garde tastemakers of the 20th century. The Art Deco Movement and continued popularity of Chinoiserie in the 1920s and 1930s inspired a series of g🤡roundbreaking designs such as the Tank Cintrée, Tank Chinoise, Tank à Guichet, and Tank Basculante. Adored by the trend setting jetset such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Yves Montand, Andy Warhol, and Frank Sinatra, any discerning man or woman of taste wouldn’t be without a Tank adorning their wrists in the decades that followed its creation. One addition to the Tank family however, would come decades after it was originally introduced.

When Cartier first unveiled the Asymétrique in 1936, it was the last ‘Tank’ released in Louis Cartier’s lifetime, however, it was not introduced as a Tank at all, but rather a standalone model 🎉with the modern driver in mind that was named the Parallelogram. Its unique design took into account the position of a driver’s hands on the steering wheel, where the unconventional orientation of the dial would allow the driver to read the time effortlessly without lifting their hands from the wheel. However, due to the increasing success and brand recognizability of the Tank collection, the Parallelogram was rebranded as the Tank Asymétrique when it was relaunched in 1996. 

Our present Asymétrique, the Reference 2488, was part of this 1996 reissue and features a beautiful guillochéd dial with printed💖 Arabic numerals. Released as part of a limited edition of just 400 pieces, 300 examples were cased in yellow gold, and the remaining 100 🧜were cased platinum. We are pleased to offer our present lot numbered 135 out of the 300, complete with its original presentation box, International Guarantee Certificate, and booklets.