WHY WE CURATED IT:
The importance of Must de Cartier Tanks is often overlooked. They were key to saving Cartier 50 years ago when the economic boom of post-WWII France faded, and with it, demand for luxury. Further, cheap mass-produced quartz watches were flooding in from Asia. Cartier’s solution? Make accessible versions of the (otherwise full-gold) iconic Tank LC but in gold-plated silver (so still fully precious metal), and use Swiss quartz calibres. This took the market by storm and kept Cartier’s watch business afloat, unlike much of their European counterparts. This example is in the SM size, with an index-less black dial. Simple, elegant, forever classy. Over 90% were quartz, but this one is manual. In slightly poorer condition that we typically carry but price is adjusted accordingly and easily addressed affordably. An absolute bargain for an all-original, timeless, historical piece in your collection!
CONDITION:
8/10, with minimal light hairlines. Crystal is a little cloudy with some hairlines but can be replaced. Lacquer dial has spidering throughout, common for original unreplaced dials, and full of character. Buckle has some worn plating, but original. Hands, crown and cabochon clean. Caseback polished in the past but engravings/hallmarks clear and deep. Used aftermarket strap is like-new. Movement in good health with near-spec power reserve, strong amplitude, low beat error and accurate to ±10 secs/day averaged from 6 timegrapher positions.
DIMENSIONS:
20.5mm width excl. crown
28mm length incl. lugs
5.8mm thickness
15mm lug width
Visual dial width ~15mm
Wrist in photos is 15.8cm
CRYSTAL:
Mineral glass
CASE:
925 silver, 20 micron gold-plating
WATER RESISTANCE:
Assumed none, per vintage watches
STRAP:
Aftermarket brown round-scale croc (used), original Cartier buckle (14mm)
CALIBRE:
Cartier Cal. 78-1 (ETA 2512), 2-hand manual-winding
COMES WITH:
Watch, Cartier buckle, aftermarket strap
TERMS OF SALE:
Please see our stories Highlight entitled “Terms” on our Instagram profile. Thanks!
