Cartier Tank Must mechanical watch circa 1980 22 x 30 mm

The Must of Cartier

Before becoming products, the Must de Cartier is a philosophy, a real wind of freshness that will blow from the Parisian headquarters of the House on the entire universe of luxury. Launched in 1977, this line will encourage and promote a new luxury. An affordable luxury.

This Tank watch is a perfect example. Its vermeil case pays tribute to the original Tank Louis Cartier, and was launched at the time with a dozen different dials. This was the first time Cartier produced a watch on a large scale in a non-precious metal. It was very affordable at the time and was intended to offset the damage caused by the cheap Japanese watches that flooded the fine watch market at the height of the quartz crisis. The first Must de Cartier models were released with red, blue and black dials, without any numbers. Only the "Must de Cartier" logo, the double C and two vermeil hands were visible to differentiate the cheaper Must de Cartier Tank models from the original precious metal editions.

Let's get to know each other

The watch we present is one of the first Must series of Cartier. Its silver case (solid silver coated with 750 thousandths yellow gold) is in good condition and time has given it a nice vintage patina that suits it perfectly. As always at Cartier, we find the crown of winding topped by a blue cabochon, signature of the House. Its red-bordeaux lacquered dial, called "rouge corail" has remained intact. Only the glass has a few micro-scratches.

Many examples of this reference are equipped with quartz caliber, but the version we offer is powered by a mechanical caliber. Behind its 78-1 is actually an ETA 2512 movement offering 44 hours of power reserve. A very thin and very small caliber, allowing this Tank to be extra-thin (0.6 mm thick.)

The Tank de Cartier is, without question, a design icon, and this one has a lot to offer in terms of aesthetics and value!

The package

This Tank Must has been checked and authenticated by our watchmaker. Its leather strap is new and is equipped with the original pin buckle, a rare thing to find! Like all Lepage 10h10 Vintage watches, this Cartier has a one year warranty.