The Cartier Tank Cintrée was launched in 1921 as a new interpretation of the 1917 Tank. Cintrée means “curved” in French, and the watch takes its name from its slender, elongated rectangular case, curved along its length to follow the wrist. It combines the curve of Cartier’s Tonneau case with the Tank’s brancards. Early examples have signed dials with Roman numerals, a feature of the first Cintrées. A platinum example from around 1929, sold by Phillips, measures 21 mm wide and 36 mm long and is powered by a manually wound 19-jewel movement signed European Watch and Clock Co., the company through which Cartier sourced movements in partnership with Jaeger and LeCoultre. It also has Breguet-style hands and an 18k white gold buckle.

The Cintrée is notable for showing how far the Tank idea could be pushed: the case is longer and more dramatically shaped than the original, yet keeps the same Roman numerals and brancards. It was made in several sizes and over several decades, including by Cartier London. A London Grand Tank Cintrée from 1969 to 1970, offered by Sotheby’s, measures 45 x 22 mm in 18k yellow gold, with a cream dial, stretched black Roman numerals, blued steel hands, a beaded sapphire cabochon crown and a LeCoultre calibre K840 oval movement. Cartier later drew on the Cintrée for modern successors in its Collection Privée, Cartier Paris series.

For collectors, the Tank Cintrée is among the most desirable vintage Cartier shapes, valued for its elegance on the wrist and its rarity. Phillips sold the circa 1929 platinum piece for CHF 25,000 against an estimate of CHF 20,000 to 30,000, and Sotheby’s reports a yellow gold Grand Tank Cintrée selling for 2.0 million Hong Kong dollars in April 2026, with further London examples offered in Geneva in May 2026. Details such as original Breguet-style hands and case-back markings like the “HSA” engraving, linked by research to Cartier inspection records, are closely studied by buyers. The original 1921 model is no longer produced; Cartier continues the design through modern Tank Cintrée editions inspired by the original.