Congrats on your Tank Louis Cartier!
That's a real beauty. I don't see many mechanical Tanks these days in boutiques or in the "Wild." The Tank is one of my favorite watches, because the simplicity of its design makes it look very dressy and elegant with a suit, but it also looks great with jeans and a golf shirt. It seems more common to hear people discussing the idea that some sports watches are dressy enough to wear with a suit (a Royal Oak, Nautilus, Overseas), but the Tank LC is a piece that for me is the opposite. It's a stunning dress watch that is so easy to dress down!
I was so happy to see them bring back the guilloche dial for the 100th Anniversary. I love the dials on Cartier Tanks. Cartier's Roman numerals had such a profound effect on me, that all of my dress watches have Roman Numerals or a combination of Roman numerals and stick markers. I have a Tank LC XL from 2008 and it is my favorite dress watch of all time. I hope yours will bring you many years of enjoyment. Congrats and thanks again for sharing a photo with us.
Thank you, Dean--your enthusiasm for the Tank is infectious! I have been keeping a look out a contemporary mechanical tank for a while now. But like you said, this 100th model is seldom seen even in the boutiques. Cartier did re-buy their own watches some time back and this might have been one of the models that underwent this process, or that production became slower because of this process. Whichever the case, this model only became more widely available recently.
One of the special features about this watch is the convex mineral glass *(yes, mineral glass). I don't think I have been something quite so quaint before because it is a rectangular glass that is slopped in four directions from the vertex. I understand that Cartier makes and shapes their own watch crystal and it is quite a oddity--quaint thing--to behold. There is something very 19th century about it...A final observation: as the allure of unisex watch (!), I did observe two ladies, sitting in the next table, looking in my direction over the entirety of a not-too-lengthy dinner! Their focus was clearly not on me; it was the Tank!
Yes, I am aware of the buy back, however, manual wind Tanks have been a relatively small volume watch for them for many years compared to models like the Santos, BB, Calibre etc. So I am not sure the buy back had that much to do with the scarcity of the Tank LC 100 anniversary watch.
The Tank LC is truly a beautiful watch. It is by far my favorite dress watch (although, I also wear it with jeans). While a watch like a Patek Calatrava may have more cachet in some circles, for me the Tank LCs is really the quintessential elegant watch on a strap. As I've said before, I also like that in a sea of round watches, a Tank looks and feels different than what most other people are wearing.
Very amusing story about dinner and the ladies at the table near yours. Cartier makes great watches for men, but I would say without a doubt for many women, a Cartier watch is the ultimate watch in terms of beauty and elegance. I know several women, my wife included, who prefer Cartier watches to that of any other brand. Anyway, hope you enjoyed dinner and the longing glances that your Tank received.
How does this version compare to your CPCP?
Specifically with regard to size.
The Tank Louis Cartier 100 year anniversary watch is very close in size to that of the original Tank LCs of the past. Its dimensions are 33.7 x 25.5. Just to clarify, there was a CPCP Tank Louis Cartier of similar dimensions (but that is not the one I own).
My CPCP Tank LC is the XL, which is approximately 39 x 30 mm. The CPCP Tank XL was produced in limited quantities, 200 in pink gold and 50 in platinum. It also has a completely different movement. The 100 Anniversary Tank LC has a solid case back with a JLC movement. While the CPCP Tank XL has a sapphire synthetic display back allowing one to view the rectangular shaped movement (which was developed by Cartier's sister company, Piaget).
Hope that helps. I plan to do a short post about the CPCP Tank XL soon, and share some photos too.
You're always such a great source of info and I'm looking forward to your photos!
Thanks for the kind words and I look forward to sharing some info about my Tank soon.