Authenticate Cartier Tank
The rectangular case whose brancards must run unbroken into the strap.
Introduced 1917Paris
The Tank's defining feature is its brancards — the two vertical bars that frame the dial and continue into the lugs as one uninterrupted line. On genuine production that line is unbroken and the surfaces are finished to meet the strap exactly. Counterfeits show a join, a step, or a brancard that is not quite parallel to its opposite.
The dial carries Roman numerals with the secret signature worked into one of them, and a railway minute track around the outside. The blued steel hands on classic references are genuinely blued — a deep, warm blue that shifts with the light — rather than painted.
The Tank exists in many variants: Louis Cartier, Française, Américaine, Must, Solo, and each has its own case proportions and movement specification. Establishing which reference is in front of you comes before anything else, because a Tank Française case with Tank Louis Cartier dimensions is an assembly.
What a Tank does on the secondary market
Steady rather than speculative. Vintage Louis Cartier Tanks in precious metal have a real collector market; quartz Must de Cartier pieces from the 1980s trade modestly but have appreciated as interest in the era has grown.
An orientation for honest, unrestored condition — never an appraisal, and never a quotation.
Questions we are asked
- What are the brancards on a Tank?
- The two vertical bars framing the dial, which continue into the lugs as one uninterrupted line. On genuine production that line is unbroken; counterfeits show a join, a step, or bars that are not quite parallel.
- Which Tank do I have?
- The model exists as Louis Cartier, Francaise, Americaine, Must, Solo and others, each with its own case proportions and movement specification. Establish the reference first, because a genuine watch judged against another variant's dimensions will read as wrong.
Lovenhall WatchRead the watch itself
The checks tell you how it was made. The instrument tells you what it appears to be, and roughly what its kind fetches.