Everything You Need to Know About Cartier Tank – Review
With annual sales of $6.2 billion, the company is a true giant in the luxury industry and for sure one of the most famous and popular jewelry manufacturers in the world.
Cartier offers not only rings, bracelets and necklaces. The brand also carries some iconic luxury watches that you must know, such as the Cartier Tank.
The Cartier Tank is one of the most popular wristwatches from Cartier. It was first introduced more than a hundred years ago. The square, angular design is inspired by a tank from the First World War. Ever since, the Cartier Tank has been a special and appreciated wristwatch.
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The history of Cartier
First, let's take a look at how the Cartier brand started.
The history of Cartier began in 1847 in Paris when Louis-François Cartier opened his first workshop there. As a young jeweler, it was always his goal to not only produce simple jewelry but to create works of art that were individual and embodied the essence of elegance.
And the watchmaker succeeded in doing just that. The Atelier Cartier quickly became very famous and was able to supply especially the French aristocracy with jewelry.
It wasn't long before Cartier's excellent reputation spread beyond the borders of France, and the brand received international recognition for its finely crafted jewelry.
In the late 19th Century, when Louis-François' three grandsons took over the business, they expanded it massively.
Cartier opened boutiques in London and New York, making the brand a global status symbol of luxury and wealth.
But Cartier was not only known for their jewelry. In fact, the brand has had a big influence on the development of modern wristwatches. Louis Cartier designed the Santos as early as 1904, making it one of the first wristwatches designed specifically for pilots, in this case, Alberto Santos Dumont.
The introduction of the Santos marked the beginning of Cartier's commitment to innovation in watchmaking.
In the 1920s, the brand had an especially creative time. It was during this period that the iconic Tank, which is the subject of today's discussion, was created.
One thing the brand has always been known for is to follow the rules of art. It even collaborated with artists and designers such as Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dalí.
In the 20th century, Cartier also expanded into the world of perfumery and accessories.
Nevertheless, the brand remained true to its heritage by continuing to create exquisite jewelry and watches.
Now, over 170 years later, Cartier is one of the most prestigious luxury brands in the world. Each Cartier jewelry piece is a result of artistry, tradition, and timeless beauty. At the same time, the name Cartier remains synonymous with elegance and luxury.
Thus, the history of Cartier's creation is a prime example of the successful symbiosis of art and craftsmanship.
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Origin of the Cartier tank
The Cartier Tank can look back at over 100 years.
In 1917, the Americans intervened in the First World War. They were among the first nations ever to use an armed armored vehicle in combat.
These machines, of course, bear the English name “tank."
Cartier took the robust design as inspiration and quickly released the Tank wristwatch in the same year. Their watch was designed after the Mark-IV-Tank of the British Army. The watch is square, quite thin, and has only 2 hands. Not a lot of similarities with a tank, but it gives the watch an interesting characteristic.
To show his appreciation for the military support his nation received, the Parisian jeweler Cartier even decided to give away some Tank watches to high-ranking military officers such as the American General John Joseph Pershing, who was the commander of the American Armed Forces stationed in France.
The Tank was able to enjoy a lot of interest in the years after its introduction. For the time, this was very unusual because in the 1920s wristwatches were not as popular as today. At the time, almost everyone was still using pocket watches.
The design of the tank was just so different that it stood out from all the other watches. It was especially popular among artists and creative people, while the traditional watch community rather disliked this watch.
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Variations of the Tank
In 2017, the Cartier Tank celebrated its 100th birthday. Therefore, it is no wonder that there are countless variations of this watch. We'll give you a brief overview.
The Design
First, we would like to define the most distinctive design aspects of the Tank. The most obvious is the rectangular and geometric shape. As mentioned before, this is a homage to the proportions of a tank, giving the watch a distinctive silhouette.
At the same time, the case is remarkably slim, which gives the design an immense, subtle elegance despite its robust appearance.
Most of the time, the Tank comes on a leather strap that perfectly fits the Roman dial. With its rounded corners, the Tank makes a perfect dress watch to wear with a nice suit or any other elegant outfit.
Although always staying true to its origins, the Tank has had some changes made to it over the years.
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Early Vintage Models
Just 3 years after the release of the original Santos, in 1920, another variant of the Tank was made. In this model, the crossbeam was a lot wider, giving the watch a more elongated rectangular shape that was a lot more elegant.
In the same year, Cartier also made another variant, the Tank L.C., that had a slightly curved case. This watch has been liked by many people; one of the most famous customers was the Maharaja from Kapurthala, the richest person in India at the time.
In the beginning of the 1930s, the Reverso from Jaeger-LeCoultre was first released, making it a serious competitor to the Tank. The Reverso was also square and had the ability to flip around the case to protect the dial from impacts and scratches.
Since the Reverso became very popular, Cartier wanted to make a watch that could compete with the Reverso. His answer was the Tank à Guichets.
This watch has only two small cutouts in the face of the dial, through which you can read the time. The rest of the dial is made from the metal of the case to make it very sturdy.
Sometime later, Cartier even released a direct competitor to the Reverso, the Tank Basculante, which itself had a case that could be flipped just like the case of a Reverso. The mechanism to flip the Cartier Basculante was inspired by a deck chair; this is also where the name comes from. Basculante is a kind of deck chair in French.
Another revolutionary version of the Tank is the Tank Asymétrique. This Tank was no longer rectangular but a rhombus. The dial of this unique watch was also tilted to the side slightly to match the top and bottom edge of the case. This watch did not only look very cool, it was also functional in a way, since you don’t need to rotate your arm as much as with a conventional watch. Of course, this watch is only for people who wear the watch on their left arm.
After the rather unconventional Tank watches, Cartier made some more variants with a rectangular case namely the Tank Rectangle as well as the Tank Allongée.
After many successful years, Pierre Cartier died in the year 1965, after which the company fell out of the hands of the Cartier family. After the death of Pierre Cartier, the company had to face some difficult years.
It was only in the 1970s that Cartier was able to continue its successful journey under the direction of Robert Hocq and Joseph Kanoui.
To bring Cartier back to its old glory, they came up with a completely new marketing strategy and introduced the “Le Must de Cartier” line. This product line was about luxury essentials such as watches, jewelry, and a lot more.
In this product line, there were also some things that Cartier has not been known for such as sunglasses, writing utensils, and even leather goods.
Of course, in this series, there was also a new Tank watch. In 1973, Cartier released the Tank Le Must de Cartier. The design of this Tank was just like a normal Tank, but it was a bit slimmer and therefore more elegant.
To make this watch thinner, Cartier decided to use a quartz movement for the first time.
However, in the 80s, this model of the Tank got a questionable reputation because it became one of the most copied watches worldwide.
But this did not hold back Cartier from coming up with more models of the Tank. For example, in the late 80s, they first introduced the Américaine, and in 1996 the La Tank Francaise.
The Américaine is an elongated version of the Tank, and the La Tank Francaise is the first-ever Tank on a metal bracelet.
Both these watches are in the product catalog of Cartier to this day.
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The Tank Must
The newest model in the Tank series is the Tank Must. It was introduced in 2021 and is inspired by the design of an early Tank.
The Must has a crown with a cabochon (polished gemstone) and a classic pin clasp to secure the leather bracelet. The sides of the case are heavily rounded, giving the watch a more organic look; besides that, the dial has also gotten new proportions, giving the watch a bit more width.
The Tank Louis Cartier
This Tank was made as a tribute to its founder Louis Cartier. There is only a small difference to the Cartier Must; the Louis Cartier is 0.3 millimeters thinner. However, it is available in more luxurious materials such as yellow gold and rose gold.
As with almost every other Tank, there is a ring inside of the Roman numerals to indicate the exact minute. Cartier calls this a railroad design.
The hands of the Louis Cartier Tank are blue, matching the crown with the sapphire cabochon.
This Tank has been available with both a mechanical movement and with a quartz movement.
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The Tank Française
In 2023, Cartier reworked the Tank Francais and introduced it as an automatic watch. The Francaise is available in both stainless steel and yellow gold, as well as with some factory-set diamonds. Of course, the most exciting thing is the metal bracelet, which is very atypical for the Tank.
This version of the Tank is even available in three different sizes. You can choose between a 25.7x21.1, 32x27, and 36.7x30.5-millimeter case. The biggest version is available with an automatic caliber, the 1953 MC.
Other current models
If you have ever visited the website of Cartier, you know that there are a lot more variants of the Tank in the current lineup.
For example, there is the current version of the aforementioned Tank Americaine, which is known for its long design with thick side bars.
Another one is the Must de Cartier. This is a watch that has no indices; the dial is just one single color with silver hands.
Another special Tank is the Citrée; besides being a bit bigger, this version is also available as a skeletonized watch.
The Asymétrique is another vintage watch that is still in the lineup of Cartier to this day. Personally, this is my favorite Tank. Its case is not rectangular but a rhombus, giving the watch a unique look that is going to stand out from a lot of watches.
The most special, and if you ask me, the ugliest watch is the tank jewelry watch that is adorned with gemstones all around.
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Prices and Value Development – Is the Tank a Good Investment?
Now you’re an expert on all the different models of the Tank, but how much do these watches cost?
To give you an overview, we have made a chart with all the prices of the different watches. The data of this chart is from August 2023.
Must | From 2,810 EUR to 6,600 EUR |
Must de Cartier | From 2,930 EUR to 3,100 EUR |
Française | From 3,350 EUR to 31,500 EUR |
Américaine | From 6,000 EUR to 16,400 EUR |
Louis Cartier | From 9,850 EUR to 12,800 EUR |
Cintrée | From 22,200 EUR to 109,000 EUR |
Asymétrique | From 66,500 EUR to 105,000 EUR |
Jewelry watch | From 81,000 EUR to 255,000 EUR |
Value development
For many, the list price itself is not really that important. Because with luxury watches, it is just as important whether the value of the watch increases or decreases over time.
Surprisingly, the value development of the Tank is not even this bad.
We have to note that you can never expect an increase in value as you can with a Rolex, but a Cartier Tank is value stable.
Still, we would recommend buying your watch in the gray/secondary market because they are often traded for 10 to 20% below their list price. But the good news is that the prices remain at this level fairly consistently.
If we take a look at the vintage models of the Tank, the value development looks a lot different and a lot better.
Rare models from the 1920s, for example, are often sold at auctions for more than 25,000 Euros. Of course, some limited edition models sell for a lot more.
The most precious vintage watches in this series are the Tank Cintrée, trading at up to 30,000 Euros.
However, we have to note that prices of vintage watches vary a lot depending on the specific model, the reference number, and the condition of the watch.
After all, we can say that the Tank watch has a lot of potential for an increase in value. Still, most watches are just stable in their value without an increase.
If you are looking for watches that can also be worthwhile for you as an asset, you must definitely take a look at our article " Luxury watches as an investment".
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Craftsmanship and Watchmaking at Cartier.
Since Cartier is better known for their jewelry, you might ask yourself whether the Tank is even a good watch. I can assure you the Tank is as good as they say. Although Cartier is better known for their jewelry, they also have a lot of experience in watchmaking.
Of course, when it comes to mechanical movements, Cartier is not as far ahead as many other manufacturers.
It’s not a secret that the Parisian brand places a bigger focus on aesthetics and the creative side than on the technical. Exceptional movement as well as complex complications are therefore not as important.
This is why Cartier uses a lot of quartz movements, besides their hand-wound and automatic mechanical movements.
In Cartier watches, you will find both in-house calibers as well as off-the-shelf movements.
For the Tank, Cartier buys movements from Jaeger-LeCoultre as well as Piaget.
But Cartier has also proven that they can indeed build their own high-quality movements. One is the in-house movement 9901 MC and the other is the 9902 MC, both of which are designed and built by Cartier themselves.
The newest in-house calibers from Cartier are the 1917 MC, which is hand-wound, as well as the 1899 MC, which has automatic winding.
All in-house movements from Cartier are of very good quality and up to industry standard.
About the author
Alexander Weinberger
For me, the most fascinating thing about watches is the interplay between precise craftsmanship and artistic development. In a watch movement, hundreds of small parts have to be put together precisely so that they form a large whole.