Cartier Refines Its Tank Americaine Watch
Small but thoughtful tweaks give the Tank Americaine new life for a new generation.
For over a century, the Tank watch has arguably been Cartier’s most versatile design. While it may not be the maison’s oldest model (that honour goes to the Santos de Cartier), its sharp design language has endured numerous modifications while miraculously retaining its DNA. Squared, elongated, or slanted, one can always recognise a Tank. This year, Cartier has decided to update one of its sleeker iterations, the Tank Americaine — and its winning formula of changing very little while keeping things fresh for modern times will please long-time devotees and new fans alike.
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The first Tank Americaine was launched in 1988 as the successor to the Tank Cintree. While both are rectangular like the original Tank, the Americaine and Cintree had longer, narrower dials and a more curvaceous profile. The difference between these two, however, is much more subtle. As a response to a market demanding larger watches, the Americaine was designed to be slightly bigger, with more rounded brancards than the Cintree, and with a flat case back instead of a curved one.
The self-winding Tank Americaine large model (above) now comes with a thinner 8.6mm case profile compared to the previous generation.
For 2023, the Americaine has been refreshed in a slimmer, straighter guise. Still slender and elegant, the new Americaine is offered in 11 references across three different sizes. They retain Americaine signatures like the rounded railroad minute track, blued sword-shaped hands, and lengthened Roman numerals. But given the reduced diameter of the updated collection, the central seconds hand was removed so as not to clutter the smaller dials. On the small and mini models, the dials feature a sunray finish, while the large models have a new vertical satin-brushed finish.
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The large models also benefit from the new manufacture 1899 MC self-winding calibre, which was developed specially for use in thinner cases. As such, the new Tank Americaine is now just 8.6mm thick compared to the previous generation, which had a thickness of 9.5mm. The small and mini references are powered by quartz movements, but all the new models have a water resistance of 30m.
The 2023 iterations of the Tank Americaine features a slimmer and straighter case design across the board.
The new collection is presented in steel or rose gold with a leather strap or metal bracelet, in rose gold with diamonds, or fully paved with diamonds in white or rose gold with a matching bracelet.
The new Tank Americaine joins the current lineup with the Tank Louis Cartier, Tank Must, and Tank Francaise, but like its siblings, it maintains a distinctive personality that is still unmistakably a Tank.
This article first appeared in The Peak