Launched in 1996, the Cartier Tank Asymètrique was released as a faithful and modern reinterpretation of Cartier’s 1936 Parallelogram design, which would then later become known as the Tank Asymètrique. With its eponymous asymmetric design, the Tank Asymètrique was created as a means to enable drivers to read the time easier while holding the wheel with outstretched arms. This modern re-release includes 400 individually pieces, of which 300 examples were made of 18kt yellow gold, and the remaining 100 were made of platinum, like the example we have here, which is number 70 of the run. With large black Arabic numerals and blued steel hands atop its silver guilloche engraved dial, the timepiece is wonderfully legible, as its traditional use-case would require. Additionally, with its platinum case, it wears with the heft that one would expect from a luxurious timepiece like this.

A modern and luxurious interpretation of a classic piece of Cartier design, the Tank Asymètrique plays a wonderfully quaint role in Cartier's history of geometric design. This 1996 Asymetrque is faithful of the original's design, while adding a more contemporary dial design that was carried forward to the CPCP models to come.