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Must de Cartier Tank — Tri-Tone Dial

Details

The Story

We love vintage Must de Cartier pieces at Danny’s Vintage Watches and this 1980s quartz model is a great affordable example — this one has a stunning and rare tri-tone yellow, white and rose striped dial, 18k yellow gold vermeil case and great lizard grain strap. Original blued hands and Cartier cabochon crown, of course.

The Details

Brand: Must de Cartier

Model: Tank Quartz (1980s)

Features: Time-only, tri-tone dial

Case: 23mm 18k yellow gold vermeil case

Movement: original Cartier quartz

Bracelet/Strap: Brown lizard grain leather with matching gold buckle

Lug Width: 17mm

Box & Papers: No

Condition: Some light tarnishing and gold wear due to age, small scratch on the crystal at 1, but overall good condition.

Key Specs
History

Louis Cartier designed the Tank in 1917, inspired by the aerial view of a Renault FT tank on the Western Front — its parallel "rails" mimicking the tracks, its rectangular body echoing the vehicle's profile. The watch was introduced in 1919 and immediately claimed its place as one of the most significant case designs in watchmaking history.

The Tank has never gone out of production, and its list of admirers reads like a century of cultural history: Jackie Kennedy, Andy Warhol, Princess Diana, Yves Saint Laurent. It is the watch of the intelligentsia, the creative, the quietly powerful.

The Tank Must — introduced in the 1970s in vermeil (gold-plated silver) — democratized the design, bringing the silhouette to a new generation. The Tank Louis Cartier in 18-karat gold represents the elevated end. The Tank Solo in stainless steel is the accessible entry point. All three carry the same essential idea: that a rectangle of precious metal can be more beautiful than any complication.