Since its launch 109 years ago, an extensive list of luminaries have worn the Cartier Tank watch, including Yves Saint Laurent, Andy Warhol, Catherine Deneuve, Princess Diana and Muhammad Ali. Among all these bold-faced fans, the timepiece is most closely associated with former First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy, perhaps because she wore it so regularly and so stylishly for decades. Now that the FX series Love Story: John Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette has reignited an obsession with Kennedy style, interest in the Cartier Tank model, like this 1980s version offered by 1stDibs seller Classic Time Club, is also rising. Not only was the watch one of Jackie’s signature accessories, but her daughter-in-law wore one as well.
Louis Cartier designed the watch in 1917, taking cues for its case from a top-down view of the French Renault FT-17 tank, used during World War I. Slightly exaggerated gold vertical sidebars echo the tracks that enabled the tank to traverse rough terrain. This motif is echoed at the center of the dial in the railroad-track minute ring. As a whole, the watch represented a dramatic shift from the more usual round shapes and ornate aesthetics.
Over the years, Cartier has produced numerous variations on the design — slightly modifying proportions or materials. In 2017, Carole Radziwill put up for sale at Christie’s the gold Cartier Tank Louis that Jackie received from Prince Stanisław Radziwill in 1963, and the public was able to take a close-up look. The rare petite model, whose case measured approximately 20mm by 28mm and a pronounced sapphire cabochon set in the crown, fetched an astonishing $379,500 (and was purchased by Kim Kardashian).
When the watch appeared at auction, it called into question the widely held belief that the Cartier Tank watch Bessette was spotted wearing in the ’90s had belonged to Jackie and been given to her by John Jr. Evidence has emerged that Jackie owned several Tanks, which tracks with her general jewelry-collecting habit. For instance, she had many variations of the Croisillon bracelet designed by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co.
Carolyn Bessette appears to have resembled her mother-in-law in acquiring multiples of her accessories. It’s well documented, for example, that she owned a black as well as a tan Hermès Birkin bag. In addition to one of Jackie’s gold Tank watches, she had a silver Cartier Les Must Tank, acquired in 1996 from top Cartier salesman Guy Clark, who had befriended her.
At the time, I had the same watch from Cartier’s Les Must diffusion collection. Launched during the so-called quartz crisis in the late 1970s and discontinued in the early 2000s, Les Must was all about reimagining classics like the Tank and Rolling Ring in less expensive materials, such as silver and gold-plated metal. Given her meticulously assembled wardrobe of chic staples, it makes sense that Bessette would have (at least) two Cartier Tank watches.
