Fresh from the showcase here at SwissWatchExpo, this morning we are talking about some of the
Louis Cartier Tank watches and how that relates to the sizes that have been offered over the years.
It really is sort of confusing. The Tank watch goes back a hundred years,
you know, back to 1917 when the first one was presented to General Black Jack Pershing,
as a thank you gift for keeping France free in World War 1.
They've made so many sizes since then. Cartier does tend to respond to the public's tastes,
and change things a little bit over and over and over. They've done different sizes, and they've
run out of names to call them. So there's so many different models called large or small
or extra large or jumbo that it's really difficult to put a pin on exactly what those words mean.
So to make it a little bit more clear,
these are some of the biggest ones they've made in the Cartier Tank watch line.
The Tank watch is interesting in that it's one of the smaller watches that has continued to stay
extremely popular all through the jumbo watch sort of revolution of the last 20 years. It's a true
gentlemen size watch. It's the size watch that someone like say Cary Grant or John F. Kennedy
wore. In fact, they did wear this watch. Yet for the modern man, you might decide that the current
"large" Louis Cartier Tank is the perfect size for you. That one came out in 2017
for the 100th anniversary of the Tank watch. They revamped the sizes once again
in 2017. So if you want the current editions, those would be the ones that you're looking for.
The ones right before that were aunched as a water resistant model for the first time. You'll notice
that on the case back, you'll see eight screws. That's the big telltale sign that you're looking
at that one, and the fact that it says water resistant. But in between those two, this model
was made, which is called the XL, and it truly is an extra large one. Generally speaking, the men's
Cartier Tank watches are around 25 millimeters wide. This one's about 35. So it's a huge jump
compared to the others. The one we have here is an 18 carat rose gold, and it is interesting that it
did come out in gold. The original Louis Cartier Tank was in yellow gold of course, but continuing
the trend of giving the public what asks for, Cartier did launch this one in rose gold.
One of the things about it, not only is it quite large at roughly 35 by 40 millimeters - 35 wide,
40 high - it's only 5.1 millimeters thick. That is thanks to an ultra thin Piaget
movement that's inside. It's a hand wound mechanical. They call it the 430MC when they
turned it into a Cartier movement. If you look at a picture of this movement, you'll see the plates
have the Cartier double C logo motif engraved all over them. It's a beautiful movement.
One of the ways they kept the watch really thin was by not giving you the exhibition case back.
You can see it's a solid case back, and this is one of the reasons why they're able to make it
as an ultra thin watch. It does come with the 18 karat gold buckle and with the highest
quality alligator straps that Cartier makes. These are the ones that are called the bamboo portion,
it's the most expensive, exclusive part of the alligator skin. You can see on the wrist,
I've got pretty average size wrists, and you can see that it's a good size.
It is not the small Louis Cartier Tank that is most of the rest of the line. So if you're
looking for the classic Louis Cartier shape, but you like a bigger watch, this one is not only
quite large, but because it's so thin, it would fit great under a shirt sleeve.
It does have some of the hallmarks of the Louis Cartier Tank watch all intact. It's the grain
silver dial, which is a little bit off-white. It's one of the standards for the Louis Cartier tank.
The Roman numerals that are printed on the surface painted,
and you'll see, not only are they the Roman numerals, but you have this great
inner minute rail track that is standard to most of the Louis Cartier Tank watches.
You also see the hands are the blued steel, in some lights they look black,
but when you catch a glint of the light, they are blued steel sword shaped hands.
On most of the men's watches, you'll see that the thin line of the V and the seven is not actually a
line. It's a micro printing of the word Cartier. It's not the one thing that I would authenticate
a watch from, but I've personally never seen a counterfeit watch that got it right.
So it's one of the things, if you get out of loop and really look at that micro printing of the word
Cartier hidden in the Roman numeral, that's a real strong sign that what you're looking
at is an authentic watch. Of course, everything at SwissWatchExpo is 100% authentic guaranteed.
Our owner is a Cartier trained master watchmaker. Every single one of our watches
have been completely authenticated. They've been inspected and verified, and we stand behind that
a hundred percent. One of the interesting things that has happened with launch of this watch
is that it sort of competes with another watch within the Cartier range, the XL Tank solo.
The Tank solo is an interesting watch. It replaced the Musk de Cartier as a more entry level watch,
but you can see the aesthetic is almost identical to the Louis Cartier Tank. The dial is a little
more silver. It does have a second hand. It has the word automatic above six o'clock, and it has
the date aperture at six. So there's a little more going on. The dial on the Louis Cartier
Tank is a famously sparse and very sophisticated. The Solo doesn't have that. You can see that the
cabochons they use on the crowns are different on the Solo. It's a synthetic spinel, on the Louis
Cartier t's a natural Sapphire. So the Sapphire looks naturally darker. It's also smaller, but
look at the difference in the thickness. The Louis Cartier at 5.1 millimeters thick is completely
different than the 7.8 you see here on the Tank Solo. Much thicker watch, but not quite as large.
This Tank Solo does have a little bit of a domed back, and that's because it's an
automatic movement where the Louis Cartier is a hand wound mechanical. But the back of the Solo is
also stainless steel. One of the places where they try to save you a little bit of money. The other
big difference when you're looking at the two, is that the sides of the tank watches - here's a
nickel term you can use at a party when someone asks you why you chose that particular Louis
Cartier watch - they call the sides of these watches "brancards," not just bezel,
but brancards. It's an obsolete word. It really means the litter that's drawn behind a horse
like a stretcher for someone who's wounded. So again, we're sticking with the military terms.
But you can see how the sides of a Tank watch they sort of look like the sides of a stretcher.
It's really beautiful how they're integrated right into the lugs to hold the strap,
one of the classic hallmarks of a Cartier watch. These brancards on the Tank Solo are flat on top.
I don't know if you can see that, but on top of the Louis Cartier, they're rounded.
So it's actually a different case shape, instantly recognizable if you know what you're looking for.
The Tank Solo is roughly half the price of the Louis Cartier. So if you're budget conscious,
budget savvy, the Tank Solo might be a good pick for you. On the other end of the spectrum,
we have this beautiful 18 carat white gold XL Louis Cartier Tank. Same dimensions as the rose
gold one, but with factory set diamonds on the brancards and the 18 karat white gold deployant
buckle included. Again, the closed case back to keep it at that 5.1 millimeters thick.
So this is a gorgeous watch, it would look great on men or women.
Really, any of these three versions would look great on men or women. Give us a call, we'll be
happy to talk you through the various choices on sizes for Louis Cartier Tanks. One of our
favorite watches here at SwissWatchExpo. A watch with a long history that has a lot of colorful
people in it. Celebrities, if you just Google celebrities who have worn the Cartier Tank watch,
you'll be amazed at the level of sophistication that you'll see. People who really could have worn
any watch they want, but they chose this Tank watch as their everyday watch over and over.
So click, like subscribe, give us a comment, tell us what you liked, what you don't like,
and we'll see you next time here at fresh from the showcase at SwissWatchExpo.