Cartier: First Encounter With The Tank MC

Better late than never. Last Friday I was finally able to get hold of the new Tank MC, four weeks after the watch was announced and after our article was posted with the first press pictures, that you can find HERE

When looking at the following pictures I took, please bear in mind, that when I received the watches, the crown was pulled out and the watches were all set at 9 minutes past 10. ideal setting for photography. I did however not push the crown back, when I started to shoot, to prevent them from running. So in normal life, the crown is closer to the side of the case!

The new Tank MC has now officially landed in the Boutiques, in four different versions. A steel version with cream- or black dial and the pink gold version with cream- or chocolate dial. All dials have that very nice guilloche, where Cartier is famous for. Unfortunately the pink gold with chocolate dial was not available, but I am sure that the guilloche will be in line with the black dial.

My first reaction when I handled the watch, was right away, more than positive!
Build quality and looks are just awesome!

This is a Tank that has all the masculine aspects a watch can have and still has the elegance and refinement of a Cartier Tank. It also shows that a men’s watch does not need to be huge, since the new MC is certainly not small, but absolutely not fashionable over sized.

The slightly curved case of the watch has a new design and a completely new construction, but the strong lines and crown are reminiscent of the later versions, of the very first Cartier Tank: the ‘Tank Normale’, now updated to the 21st century. With modest dimensions of 44 x 34.3mm and 9.5mm thick, the MC has a size that will fit any wrist and actually also suit any occasion. Even under a cuffed shirt, the watch behaves very well!

Dark dials of some of the Cartier models are not always very easy to read. Not so with the black version of the Tank MC. Almost under any angle the time was very good readable.

The ‘Sub Seconds @ 6’, is a neat complication that gives the dial a masculine touch. It is a feature that Cartier had already applied, on one of their Tank Normale models, released around 1926. Pictured here underneath.

Also one of the first, quartz powered and smaller, Tank American models from 1988, had a sub seconds @ 6 and was a great looking watch.

A classic Tank dial looks stunning and uncluttered without the large sweep seconds and this ‘petite complication’, gives a lot of charm to this new Tank MC.
As for the date window; here commerce has won from aesthetics, since the dial would have looked way better and more in balance if the digit III would have remained tact. It’s a given fact, that in general men prefer to have a watch with a date, so this new good looking addition to the Tank line, got a date window @ 3.

There has been some criticism about the back of the watch, mainly the fact that the sapphire window is rectangle, while the movement is round. Cartier could of course have chosen for a closed back, or a back with a round port hole window, like the Tank Americaine XL has. Northing wrong with that, but this rectangle window, where the Geneva stripes of the caliber continue, is in my opinion, a very smart and creative idea. It gives the back of the watch, a cool and techno look.

Inside the case houses the 1904 MC-PS automatic caliber, (Manufacture Cartier – Petite seconde) developed by Cartier and build completely in house. This caliber that has been endlessly discussed in the magazines, was first introduced in 2010 in the ‘Calibre de Cartier’ watch, The movement is now the foundation for other calibers like the 1904-CH MC, that powers the Calibre chronograph and for the 9914MC caliber, that was used for the Tortue Multiple Timezone watch. The 1904 MC-PS is a strong workhorse and since it is in use with the Calibre watch, it has been proved to be very reliable. Water resistance is 30 meters and the power reserve is up to 48 hours.

With its sturdy construction and its techno look, this new Tank MC is a typical men’s only watch, that can adapt to any occasion, from sports to business and……this is Cartier’s first steel Tank with a Manufacture movement! Pricing of the steel version of the Tank MC is just under that of a steel Santos 100, so the watch offers excellent value for money!

Cartier has surpassed itself with the introduction of this magnificent new Men’s Tank, that from a DNA point of view, is the perfect step forward, in the natural evolution of La Maison’s incomparable collection of Tank watches.

(Please do not forget that the crown is pulled out in all pictures)

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