Cartier research help?

[deebles]

Hi,

I'm curious if anyone here has a recommendation on how to handle this. I'm a watch collector, and I'm looking at what I'm told is a unique Cartier Tank Divan. I have images of the item, serial and reference number, and communication from the owner. I called Cartier's 5th ave NYC flagship and asked if they could give me or confirm any information about the item. They were very taciturn and essentially said, "No, we only tell the owner."

I assume this is to make second hand sales more difficult, and it's a bit of an annoyance. Unless I'm missing something, this means that any information about a pre-owned Cartier item has to come filtered through its owner, and can't ever be independently confirmed. Am I wrong here? Does anyone know how to handle this and get some info?

[rootbeer7]

Please pm me. I had similar with a vintage Cartier a couple of years ago