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Just how rare is the Cartier Tank à Guichet, perhaps the most unconventional spin on the world’s most iconic square-faced watch? “More people have probably experienced the Crash in person than the Guichet,” says the dealer and Cartier enthusiast Mike Nouveau, invoking the Parisian house’s most infamous and deeply coveted timepiece.
The Guichet certainly can’t match the Crash as far as celebrity wrists, million-dollar auction results, and mood board ubiquity are concerned. But the two Cartier legends do have plenty in common, particularly with regard to unconventional good looks. While the Crash is more conspicuously freaky, the Tank à Guichet’s full metal casing and two tiny time-displaying apertures certainly isn’t something you see every day. And, as Nouveau points out, while they’re both uncommon, the less-hyped Guichet is probably the rarer model of the two. That might not be true for much longer, however: Today, just in time for Geneva’s Watches & Wonders trade show, Cartier announced that the Guichet is making a triumphant return to the jeweler’s catalog.
The Guichet is coming back better—and delightfully stranger—than ever. There are four new editions of the model. Three come in the original design, with an aperture displaying the hour at 12 o’clock and the minutes at 6 o’clock, and will be available in yellow gold, rose gold, or platinum. The fourth version, limited to just 200 pieces, moves the windows to the top left and bottom right corners. While the original design looks like a cyclops smiling at you, the new model better resembles someone winking and slyly grinning. The oddball design is a tribute to the creativity of Cartier in the 1930s, when many of the Tank à Guichets were made bespoke for top clients.
Following the Guichet’s introduction in 1928, it’s believed that Cartier produced fewer than 400 of the model during its original run. In the 97 years since, the watch has been released in even more limited numbers. For many decades, the design was only available to Cartier’s most special clients—most famously, Duke Ellington wore a Guichet regularly, which is way up there as far as co-signs go. Cartier has since released the watch only two more times in its entire history. For the maison’s 150th anniversary in 1997, Cartier brought the Guichet back in platinum for an edition limited to just 150 pieces. The last time we got a new Guichet was in 2005, when Cartier made 100 pieces in rose gold. “It’s an extremely desirable and important design,” Nouveau said.
The watch’s rarity means that it’s long been coveted by in-the-know collectors. “It’s always been important and it’s always been expensive,” Nouveau said. If you go looking for an original Guichet at auction, be prepared to pay well into six figures. In 2024, a white-gold edition from 1931 sold for over $460,000 at Phillips. Even the more recent editions regularly fetch over $100,000.
These prices are what make the Guichet’s latest revival so important. This will likely be the widest-ever release of the model, which makes Cartier’s faithfulness to the original design so satisfying. While the watch may share a shape with the boxy Tank, it is unlike most regular Tanks in every other way.
Cartier releasing the Guichet now is a perfect zag. The brand has spent the last few years dropping funky-shaped watches like the bell-shaped Cloche or the Assymetrique. Now, as shaped watches have become hotter than ever, Cartier is giving us another flavor of strange. The Guichet pairs a totally normal shape with a wildly distinctive face. Cartier, which is more responsible than anyone for ushering in the shaped watch trend, is now showing there’s more than one way to be cool and unique. And there are few models you’ll see released at this year’s Watches & Wonders radder than the Tank à Guichet.