Visual Description
The Ref. 2301 is a midsize Tank Française in stainless steel: a 25 × 30 mm case on an integrated steel bracelet that closes with a double folding clasp. Fellows catalogs a silvered dial with Roman numeral hour markers, and Sotheby's a silvered dial. Bachmann & Scher lists blue steel hands and a sapphire crystal and calls the dial white. Sotheby's describes the case back as secured by four screws. None of the records describes a date window.
Reference Significance
The 2301 sits between the small steel W51008Q3, about 20 × 25 mm, and the large automatic 2302, 28 × 32 mm. Fellows and Sotheby's give its movement as the quartz Cal. 157; Sotheby's catalogs it as the 157.06 with 4 jewels.
The 2465 is also a midsize stainless steel quartz, but Fellows catalogs it with the Cal. 175N and a date aperture at 3 o'clock, which none of the 2301 records describes.
The same case reference appears on the midsize in stainless steel and gold, which Bonhams, Antiquorum and Bachmann & Scher have sold as 2301. This page covers the all-steel watch.
Historical Context
Sotheby's and Bachmann & Scher date the Tank Française to 1996. The dated steel 2301s are a Fellows example with papers of October 1999 and two that Sotheby's dates circa 2000.
The steel-and-gold 2301 dates from the same years and later: Bachmann & Scher sold one with papers of 1999, and Bonhams catalogs another as sold in March 2005.
What to Look For
Read the case back for 2301 and a serial: Fellows prints serial 111819CD on a steel example, and Sotheby's case numbers begin CC. A midsize steel case numbered 2465, with a date at 3 o'clock, is a different reference, and a gold crown with gold bracelet links means the steel-and-gold version. The case should measure about 25 × 30 mm, and every 2301 record Archiva found is quartz. Check the bracelet for stretch and the double folding clasp for wear. None of the steel 2301 records gives the position of the secret signature; on the steel-and-gold 2301, Bonhams and Antiquorum catalog it at VII.