Watchmaking loves reincarnations. When one era comes back in fashion, others don't even disappear anymore. They stay in fashion for almost as long as they initially were. Case in point, 1950's- and 1960's-inspired timepieces are still very much in demand, and let's not even mention the 70's ones. As the eternal back and forth movement of fashion travels along the timeline of watchmaking, it is now looking at the 90's, just like it had done with the 80's. The question is : how much of a thing is it really ?
The one brand leading the charge is without a doubt Cartier. Under CEO Cyrille Vigneron and watches head of creation Marie-Laure Cérède, the Parisian brand is now bringing the Tank Américaine and the Tank Française back from the dead. Well, not from the dead exactly. These collections never really left the brand's catalog, and if they did, it wasn't for long and with a view to bringing them back once updated. But that revival has in fact a lot to do with fashion, where archetypes, launch campaigns and narratives are what counts.
That being said, these watches, even though they might have changed in name or design for the past twenty years, are actual staples of 1990's watchmaking. That's when they were born and did leave their mark. They fall under a design category where sizes are small, really small, where design is lean verging on nude, and favors Roman numerals. The 2023 Tank Américaine is narrower than ever with a height/width ratio of 1.84. And the Tank Française is bringing back a truly, if not the most, successful watch of the 90's. The largest model is sitting at a meager 30 x 36.7 mm while giving the impression it is completely square. Said impression comes from the actually square dial and the new, widened integrated bracelet (made to look like the tracks of a tank, so it all makes sense).
All these watches are 1990's-sized. In other, contemporary words, they're for men and women, non-gendered and too small for men who want their watch to look like a man's watch. This process was already at work with the new Tank Must, a straight heir to the original Must to which it bears a striking resemblance, especially in the yellow gold with burgundy dial combination (even though it's called a Tank Louis Cartier because it's got a mechanical movement). Their size is a diminutive 33.7 mm high and 25.5 mm wide.
The question this whole affair begs goes beyond Cartier's singular case. It has everything to do with the 1990's, as it did two years ago with the 1980's. These two decades are not watchmaking's most glorious to say the least. Plummeting sales, decimated brand landscape, unfortunate design decisions, it was not an enviable time for watches. Few models stood out and even less have the potential, historic as well as aesthetic, to deserve renewed access to our cherished wrists. So here's that question : is there an actual 1990's revival ?
Cartier's might is undeniable, as is their current appeal. But the latter relies on a large number of collections. It's hard to imagine that three of those will suffice to make an actual trend. Vintage karma needs confirmation and converging reincarnations. In the meantime, Cartier's unique design position lets them reap the sales their history and ability to differentiate themselves have sown.
