Cartier - The New York Watch Auction: XI New York Saturday, December 7, 2024 | Phillips
  • Manufacturer: Cartier
    Year: 2007
    Reference No: 2553
    Movement No: No. 061
    Case No: No. 061MG
    Model Name: Tank à Vis “Wandering Hours” CPCP
    Material: 18K white gold
    Calibre: Manual, cal. 9902MC, 24 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Leather
    Clasp/Buckle: 18K white gold Cartier deployant clasp
    Dimensions: 28mm width x 40mm length
    Signed: Case, dial, movement, and clasp signed.
    Accessories: Accompanied by original Cartier certificate, service papers dating to 2010 and 2021, and Cartier presentation box.

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present Tank à Vis takes inspiration from one of the rarest vintage Cartier Tank models, the Tank Étanche. According to horological lore, in the 1930s, the Pasha of Marrakech requested a water-resistant watch to wear while swimming in his pool. Cartier responded with a three-part Tank design, featuring an interior cover for the movement and a screw-down crown. The rectangular case's angles made the construction complex, and it was aptly named "étanche," the French word for "waterproof."

    In the late 1990s, Cartier's Privée Collection Paris introduced a modernized version of the Tank Étanche, known as the Tank à Vis, offering three complications: time-only, wandering hours, and dual time. This present lot is the wandering hours variation, certainly the most mechanically interesting out of the three, which features a creative time display method developed by the Campani brothers in the 1600s for the Pope's clock. The mechanism displays time using rotating discs instead of traditional hands, which is both visually appealing and mechanically intriguing. The curved aperture at 12 o’clock shows the wandering hours disc, while the minutes are indicated by a blued central hand. Powered by the ultra-thin calibre 9902MC, it is beautifully decorated and visible through a display case back.

    Encased in white gold and featuring a dial that is engine-turned with a beautiful rosette flower motif, the symbol for watches from the limited Cartier Paris Collection Privée (CPCP) line, the present lot is preserved in excellent overall condition and comes with its original certificate and Cartier presentation box.

  • Artist Biography

    Cartier

    French

    With the Constitution of 1848 came a new standard for luxury in France. Founded one year prior by Louis-Francois Cartier, the house of Cartier was one of the first to use platinum in jewelry making. This incredibly expensive material became the stepping-stone for Cartier to experiment in form, mechanisms and attitude. It helped men move from pocket watches to wristwatches, effectively making the watch much more functional and prominent in a man's overall wardrobe.

    Cartier did not only touch on functionality. Inspired by a commissioned painting by George Barbier featuring a black panther at the feet of an elegantly bejeweled woman, Cartier began incorporating wild animals in his designs—most notably, Cartier Panthère rings, bangle bracelets and watches. Yet it wasn't until the late 1960s that the house of Cartier debuted their iconic yellow and rose gold LOVE collection, which includes the famous bracelet that only a special screwdriver can open. 

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Ref. 2553
A rare and sought-after white gold wandering hours wristwatch with original certificate and presentation box

2007
28mm width x 40mm length
Case, dial, movement, and clasp signed.

Estimate
$10,000 - 20,000 
CHF8,900-17,800
€9,500-19,000
HK$77,800-156,000

Sold for $33,020

Contact Specialist

Paul Boutros
Deputy Chairman, Watches, Head of Watches, Americas
+1 (212) 940-1293
watchesny@phillips.com

Isabella Proia
Head of Sale, New York
+1 (212) 940 1285
iproia@phillips.com

The New York Watch Auction: XI

New York Auction 7 - 8 December 2024