Cartier Tank Must

There are certain designs that simply resonate throughout the years and remain evergreen despite changing trends and tastes.  The Cartier Tank, in all its one hundred-plus years of production, is one such design. Whether in gold (yellow, pink, or white), stainless steel, or vermeil; whether Française, Chinoise, Americaine, or Normale; the Tank by Cartier is one watch that truly deserves to be called ‘iconic.’ Cartier introduced the Tank in 1917, with a run of six pieces — given, or so the legend goes, to American General John Pershing and his staff. Its design was said to be inspired by the Renault FT-17 tanks Cartier glimpsed on the battlefield of the Great War. (Cartier supposedly took the look of the Renault tank's treads and applied it to the lugs, which were integrated via brancards into the case itself.) That first run of six pieces increased to 33 by 1920, and by the end of the 20th century, that number stood well in the thousands. In sheer volume alone, the Tank — in all its various models — is Cartier's largest line of watches.  In 1977, Cartier debuted the Must de Cartier watch line as a lower-priced alternative to the more premium solid-gold offerings such as the Tank Louis. Housed in vermeil cases with hand-wound or quartz movements, they reappeared in the lineup in 2021 — much to the delight of watch lovers everywhere. Housed in a 25.5mm stainless steel case with a sapphire crystal and a synthetic cabochon-shaped spinel crown, this particular 'Large' example features a glossy white Roman numeral dial with an inner 'railroad' minute track, a matching ‘sword’ handset — and that’s it. This is minimalism at its best, folks! Powered by a high-autonomy quartz movement from Cartier and paired to a signed, black grained calfskin leather strap with a steel pin buckle, this Tank ‘must’ be one of the best releases from the King of Jewelers released in the past ten years. Furthermore, it comes with its factory goodies. Why not try it on for size?