Bloomingdale's Tank - Nastrix 17 Jewel Swiss Movement - Deep Blue Lacquer Dial -1970s

In the 1970s, Bloomingdale's was the most culturally important department store in America. Andy Warhol shopped there. Diana Vreeland championed it. The 59th Street flagship was where you went to be seen, and the lowercase "bloomingdales" logotype that Massimo Vignelli designed for the store's 1972 centennial had become a status symbol on its own, a piece of New York design history printed on shopping bags that people kept and reused for years. When Cartier launched the Must de Cartier Tank in 1977 with its deep blue lacquer dial and gold Roman numerals, the look became the defining accessible-luxury aesthetic of the moment, and Bloomingdale's responded with its own private-label tank in exactly the same idiom. This is one of those watches.

A deep glossy blue lacquer dial shifts between navy and cobalt depending on the light, with the gold Roman numeral chapter ring set inside a stepped inner frame and the lowercase Vignelli "bloomingdales" logotype printed in gold across the upper half. The hands are slim gilt batons. SWISS is printed at the bottom of the dial. The crown is set with a sapphire-blue cabochon. At a glance the watch reads as a Must de Cartier Tank, and it was meant to. Bloomingdale's commissioned this private label in direct response to the Cartier tank that defined late-1970s accessible luxury, and the resemblance is close enough that you have to look twice.

The movement is signed NASTRIX 17 J, a 17-jewel manual wind Swiss caliber imported through Nastrix Corporation of 38 West 48th Street, New York, the American supplier that fed the department store and jewelry chain private-label programs of the era. The underlying ébauche is most likely from Fontainemelon, FHF being the dominant supplier of small calibers for tank-format watches at this tier. The case is a rectangular gold tone tank, stamped BASE METAL / SWISS MADE on the inside of the snap caseback. The watch is running well at the time of listing and keeps good time. The watch is presented on a black lizard-grain leather strap.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

All sales final.