Cartier Jumbo Blue Stepped Tank 15716

One of the first ten watches we ever offered at Discreet Peacock was a Cartier Stepped Tank much like this one, albeit with a white dial. Years later, another has found its way back to us, and apparently our taste hasn’t changed much. If anything, we appreciate this strange chapter of Cartier history even more now.

The reference 15716 belongs to a small family of Stepped Tanks produced during the 1970s, before the Must de Cartier era took hold. At the time, Cartier’s New York, Paris and London operations were still distinct, and each produced its own version. The New York reference is the one collectors tend to chase hardest, with approximately 2,500 examples believed to have been made.

It also happens to be the most interesting one to inspect. The 28 x 38mm case is made from brass with a substantial layer of 14k gold, with a four-screw caseback and individual serial number. At 38mm long, it is enormous by vintage Tank standards. The familiar rectangle has also been built outward through a series of rounded steps, almost like several Tank cases stacked inside one another. It gives the watch a distinctly 1970s profile while still being unmistakably Cartier.

Then Cartier stuck that crown on the side.

The elongated blue cabochon is one of the great details of the 15716. It projects dramatically from a recessed section of the case and is specific to the New York execution. Viewed from the side, it borders on absurd. Viewed on the wrist, you wonder why Cartier ever made it smaller.

This example gets considerably harder to ignore thanks to its blue lacquer dial. Gold Roman numerals stretch and bend around the perimeter, surrounding a second rectangular track and a pair of gold sword hands. Against the deep blue surface, the whole thing has a richness that the more commonly encountered white dial takes in a very different direction.

The case has survived particularly well, with most of its gold surface remaining intact and only localized areas where age has begun to reveal the brass underneath. The caseback carries serial 12 00456, placing it early within the known New York production sequence.

We’ve paired it with a new navy leather strap and a new old stock Cartier gold-plated buckle, keeping the blue and gold combination going all the way around the wrist.

Finding our way back to the 15716 feels fitting. It was an obscure, oversized and slightly peculiar Cartier when we bought our first one, and those are precisely the reasons we still like it today. Five hundred watches later, apparently the rabbit holes still work.