Help me choose my Cartier Tank

You misspelled JLC Reverso... 

I say Tank Must. 

Tank Solarbeat. Effortless charm, the Cartier way. 

Huh, write that shizniz down and send it to Cartier's marketing team/department

If you want it on a Cartier metal bracelet I think Must is the only one with that option. Otherwise it and solarbeat look the same. Battery lasts 8 years in regular, Solarbeat lasts longer (15?) but  may be more expensive to service then (just a guess, maybe it’s just a rechargeable battery swap out then).

Maybe see which you can get the best discount on.

I say get a Must now and then save up for the Louis. When the time comes you can ‘upgrade’ your Tank. 

My view is 2 are fashion based and 2 are for watch people. If you look at how these are marketed it’s easy to see why most are quart. For me it would have to be mechanical. The vintage is cool however with no provenance you may be getting a problem so it would need to come from a reputable dealer and be serviced. So it all depends what you want. A cool throw on for the weekend or something substantial in your collection, there is no wrong answer however the 4 choices kind of points to indecision on this point. 

Not much info to go on as of right now but I'd say get the Must/Solarbeat. Perhaps not much enjoyment to be had winding it, yes, but you can still marvel at the design and finishing.

Doesn't the Solar cost about the same as the similar must? It did for a while and in that case go S🌞LAR

Longines has the Dolcevita, Hamilton has the Boulton and Bulova has a number of handsome tank watches. If adding a tank/bank/tonneau to your collection is the aim, I would buy a less expensive watch that I liked to fill the gap until I could afford the Louis. They are all storied brands and have some really great looking options. Then, when you have the 10-15 grand to buy a Cartier you won't feel like you settled. (Also, the vintage market is tricky. You really have to find someone who it trustworthy to buy from, so I would probably avoid that option unless you find someone who is reputable.)

Personally I just don't see the value in this watch. 

I mean there's not even any applied indices or anything fancy.

And there's nice options at a tiny fraction of the cost with the same level of quality and heritage. 

This is just one I tried a few days ago. I'm sure there's even closer stuff. 

But of course get what makes you happy. 

Also personally I'd go with a leather free option even if you choose the Cartier. Not a great industry and also gets damaged by moisture. 

I think the steel looks much nicer. It's more chilled and less "in your face". 

The tank was the original design that everyone copies. There is a charm in that heritage...and the Seiko has none of that. Additionally, the one you pointed out is NOT the same level of quality. Certainly, the Cartier isn’t 10 times the level of quality (as the price might suggest), but the design and heritage is quite a bit more than that. 
 

Fair enough. 

And yes the Seiko was just the only example I had available in my recent photos. 

Is there anything specific about the finishing of the Cartier which is special? Or is it more about the heritage?

Well it’s hand finished with a curved case back to fit your wrist. The crown is jeweled and bead finished. The hands are blued through a special heating process. It’s a high accuracy quartz movement and the case is less than 7 mm thick. The face is finished with a Guilloché dial and the printed numerals have a Cartier Easter egg. 

It’s one watch where quartz is not such a big deal. It’s got no seconds hand so misaligned seconds hand not a thing. Plus battery life is exceptional (8yrs) so ownership cost is low.

I get the argument about value, and yes if I wanted the ultimate in quartz I would go Grand Seiko. However value wise in the world of Cartier it is a bit of a bargain. 
Depends on what you want out of it. If it’s a classic designed dress watch, that does casual too with attitude to spare the quartz can do that so. I get the charm of the vintage and mechanical, it all depends on your stage on the journey. 

Fully agree - could not see myself dropping 10k+ on the current gold quartz. The gold on that must be very minimal, I would be surprise that it would be worth north of 1k. Have been looking at some 18038 (mostly on Chrono24 and some belgian based shops), most nice looking ones with presidential bracelets are close to 15-20k EUR...

not a bad price for what it is but probably worth lurking for a bargain one to pop up!

As discussed - I am the worst influence on myself (though I blame you slightly for this one..)

Tank Louis 2441 quartz - £5k - incoming.

(Slight reservation about the date - but surely it’s not worth paying double to get rid of it!)

Wow, congrats and sorry on the reverse bad influence ;) share pics once you have it in the flesh! 5k seems frankly ok, I will pay that for my wife’s Santos Dumont which is also quartz and only has a tiny bit of rose gold. 
I would indeed also do without the date but I find the execution ok here, as long as there is no running second hand 😫

I actually after payment raced back to the listing to check there was no second hand and was relieved to see there wasn’t!

Maybe for different reasons than you though. Is it the quartz ticking?.. I don’t mind that as such. I do mind extra complexity when reading the time..

Hi, it feels like a lot of us reinforce purchase decisions on WatchCrunch.  I want you to know that my know brief experience with the Cartier Tank (Must Solarbeat) was one of the least impressive watch experiences I've had.  Thin. Pretentious. It felt like something I'd buy on Canal Street in NYC.  For the money, I feel there are so many other wonderful watch options.

My humble opinion on Cartier Tank watches.

I got the Tank Solarbeat in large for me, and small for my wife. I friggin love it! People often think of it as a dress watch only but I wear it with jeans all the time and it totally works. 

To me, there are certain watches that are just icons of its type. Think GMT, and you’re immediately thinking about Rolex GMT Master. Think any rectangular watch, and it’s just instinctively the Cartier Tank. Heck, the whole rectangular faced watch category is usually just called “tank watches” because the Cartier Tank defined the category. (Yes, JLC fanbois, I know the Reverso exists and I respect it too.)

Like some previous commenters have already said - don’t get caught up in the quartz vs mechanical thing. Cartier produces their own quartz movements in house so there’s every bit of manufacturing prowess involved too. And trust me when I say that quartz on a watch that you’re not going to wear on the daily is actually a nice thing! When you go a week without wearing it, it’ll be nice to pick it up and it’s still set correctly. 

A tank is a superb choice. I went with the small Solarbeat and can't recommend it enough. It is one of my favorite watches of all time since it is in my collection. (I absolutely say that of nearly every watch I own...😅).

In my opinion the problem with the tanks is, that you buy into the brand and will reach for the "big ones" like the Louis you mentioned. The small size with it's pink gold case and brown strap is also a dream for me. My plan is, when my Solarbeat needs a service in 16 years, I will hand it down to my son. He'll turn 18 at around that time. Then I can get the Louis to fill that void.

I'm so excited how you will decide!

Fully agree - I am actually happy to this one comes in quartz and happy to learn that they make so much of it in house, did not know that! Like you said, the goal will be to wear in many different occasions and clearly with t-shirts and jeans. The question will now be about the sizing, Cartier North America just told me that they only have the small solarbeat in stock in the US…we will see soon enough :)

I feel you - it means that there strategy is highly efficient. Getting you in with their « affordable » pieces and then slowly upwelling you all the way to the Tank Louis ;)

I love the idea of passing it down to your son in 16 years, mine would have to last 18 years in order to by in sync with my daughter 😂

Can ask you your wrist size? A lot of people say the small is really small even when going for the « tank look ».

I have just around a 5.9inch wrist so it don't look that small on me. Your daughter would definitely appreciate the watch on her 18th birthday. 

i bought my wife the small. And I have the large. I’ll take a comparison photo with both on my 6.5” wrist later today 

That would be great - thanks !

What is your wrist size btw?

I really want the Louie but aside from being out of my budget, I find the dial a bit bland. I ended up buying two vintage Musts within months of each other with more interesting dial designs.