2012 Cartier Tank Française – Diamond Set Chronoflex Perpetual Calendar
£4,450.00
includes our 24 month warranty
FULLY SERVICED
AUTHENTICATED IN-HOUSE
ORIGINALITY INSPECTED
INSURED UK DELIVERY
LEWES SHOWROOM
Introduced in 1996, the Cartier Tank Française brought a distinctly modern interpretation to the Tank family, whose origins date to Louis Cartier’s original design of 1917. Unlike the more traditional Tank Louis Cartier, the Française was conceived around an integrated bracelet, with its articulated rectangular links continuing the strong geometry of the case. This 2012 reference 2303 is one of the more technically interesting versions, housing Cartier’s Chronoflex perpetual-calendar movement and presented here with an aftermarket diamond-set bezel.
The Chronoflex movement represents an unusual chapter in Cartier watchmaking, combining the accuracy of quartz regulation with considerably greater mechanical and calendar complexity than a conventional quartz watch. Its perpetual calendar is designed to account for differing month lengths and leap years when correctly programmed, while the multi-register dial provides its additional calendar and chronograph indications without abandoning the traditional Cartier vocabulary of Roman numerals, blued hands and a chemin-de-fer minute track. This example also benefits from Cartier service history, particularly worthwhile with a specialised calibre of this type.
The condition of this example is particularly attractive. The case remains sharp and well defined, retaining the crisp lines and pronounced facets that are fundamental to the Tank Française design, rather than having been softened through excessive polishing. Its original Cartier bracelet is similarly well preserved, with the closely articulated links sitting neatly and continuing almost seamlessly into the case. Together with the diamond-set bezel, which gives the watch considerably more presence on the wrist, it makes for an unusual and striking example of one of Cartier’s most technically accomplished Tank Française models.
