Ultra rare Cartier Tank Normale London from 1951.
This is what makes Vintage Cartier Collectors heart beat faster. A wonderful find this vintage London Tank manufactured in the fabled British abode of Jacques Cartier in the epicenter of European post war class and style.
This Tank is a men’s size classic timepiece featuring a fully British hallmarked 18k gold case and deployant buckle all dating to the 1951.
The British hallmark on the side of the case featuring the crown along with the ultra iconic JC stamp (as in Jacques Cartier) are crisp and deep.
Solid yellow gold case 18k, 31×23.5mm.
Amazing original dial.
Manual winding European Watch movement.
Original crystal glass.
Original London deployant.
Original octagonal crown with blue sapphire.
This incredible watch is completely original and matching in any parts.
Ultra rare Cartier Tank New York from 1972 with Audemars Piguet Movement.
You likely know this already, but something you might not know is that Audemars Piguet made a series of watches for Cartier in the 1970s – including this one. We confirmed with the archives that the manual-winding caliber 2001 movement was produced by Audemars Piguet in 1971 and that the case was also likely made by them as well. This limited production run (approximately 50 pieces) was subcontracted by Cartier in the 1970s.
Solid yellow gold case 18k, 30.5×23.5mm. Case back marked Cartier New York.
Amazing original dial.
Manual winding, Audemars Piguet Movement.
Original crystal glass.
Original deployant.
Original crown with blue sapphire.
This incredible watch is completely original and matching in any parts.
These two incredible and stunning watches are only sold exclusively together.
A Cartier Hollywood Love Story
Today we share with you guys a pair of very special Cartier Tank watches that belonged to one of Hollywood’s golden ladies…
There is nothing more special than a watch with a story, especially a watch by a brand such as Cartier. We have been given special access to a very special pair of Cartier watches that tell a tale of Hollywood glamour and the relationship between one of the movie world’s brightest lights in the 1950s and 60s. A wonderful story about two very cool watches that we wanted to share with you here.
Watch auction watchers will be familiar with the Cartier Tank that sold at Christie’s in 2017 that belonged to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. A gift from her brother-in-law, Prince Stanislaw “Stas” Radziwill, the watch was worn by Jackie Kennedy throughout her life and was bought by Kim Kardashian for an astonishing $379,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $60,000-120,000. The watch had a personal engraving on the caseback, “Stas to Jackie 23 Feb 63 2:05 AM to 9.35 PM”, and it is this engraving that is important to this story…
Jean Howard
Jean Howard was an American actress and photographer. Born in Texas in 1910, she moved to Los Angeles to study photography at the LA Arts Center. In was in Los Angeles that she met the talent agent Charles K Feldman. Feldmen was a lawyer who worked for a number of agents in Hollywood before becoming an agent himself and then a movie producer. Feldman became a big player in Hollywood working alongside Jack Warner, Sam Goldwyn, Greta Garbo and other luminaries of the era.
In 1935 Feldman married actress Jean Howard and the pair became a fixture of the Hollywood circuit. Jean Howard, having had some success as an actress, began focusing on her photography and she would take her camera to all the parties and events she attended. Her photographs were eventually collated for a book, Jean Howard’s Hollywood in 1989 which is acknowledged as a leading insight into the Hollywood of the 1940s and 50s and includes stars such as Grace Kelly, Richard Burton, Judy Garland and Cole Porter.
Feldman and Howard divorced in the late 1940s, but remained close friends and even lived together. Feldman was producing big movies in the 50s and 60s including A Streetcar named Desire, The Seven Year Itch with Marilyn Monroe and the legendary first Bond movie, Casino Royale starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles and Woody Allen. In 1968 they finally went their separate ways.
The Italian Years
Over the years, Jean Howard became great friends with the legendary musician and composer Cole Porter. Porter needs little introduction and is most well remembered for hit songs including “Begin the Beguine”, “I Get a Kick Out of You”, “Well, Did You Evah!” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”. In 1964, Porter died and bequeathed a fortune in jewels upon Jean Howard. With this huge wealth, Howard travelled a lot spending prolonged periods on the island of Capri as well as London and New York.
t was whilst living on the idyllic Italian island of Capri that she met a musician, Tony Santoro who was twenty years her junior, in one of the resort’s night clubs. Together they moved back to Feldman and Howard’s LA home in 1969, which Howard was eventually awarded in the divorce, where they lived until Howard passed away in 2000.
The Gift of A Cartier Tank
Today we present to you a pair of Cartier Tanks that were gifted between Jean Howard and Tony Santoro. Both in yellow gold and classic Tanks in styling, it is the casebacks that tell the story of their relationship. The first dates to 1969 when Santoro bought a watch and had an inscription on the caseback done at Cartier London.
AP made a few pieces for Cartier in the early 70s including Tanks, Reverso and Baignoires. I’m sure at the time, when Jean Howard bought the watch, this was no big deal, but with the huge surge in interest in both Cartier and Audemars Piguet, this is on heck of a watch!
Both of these watches, that belong in a private collection, are accompanied by large number of Jean Howard’s original photographs and the whole package has been authenticated by Tony Santoro’s sister! It is finds such as this that make watch collecting the fun that it is. Watches with a story and links to bygone eras. We can only imagine the trips on which these watches were worn, the incredible places that they visited and the people with whom they had contact.
Let us know if you are interested in the pair of Cartier…
Cartier pieces are sold together and accompanied by photos taken by Jean Howard.
