There are few watches that have featured on a wider variety of important wrists than the luxury fake Cartier Tank. Designed more than a century ago, Louis Cartier drew painfully elegant inspiration from the most unlikely of sources – the Renault FT tank that saw use in WWI. Many variations followed, but the one that we’ll focus on today first appeared many decades later, towards the end of the 20th century. The 1:1 replica Cartier Tank Française first appeared in 1996, and despite its feminine name, introduced a huskier design when compared to the well-known, slender Tank silhouette. As one of the newer Cartier Tank super clone watches online, it doesn’t get as much attention as the Cintrée or Normale, despite soaring success in the ’90s and ’00s, but it’s worth pointing out that it featured on the wrists of both Lady Di and Michelle Obama. If it’s good enough for them, it’s certainly worthy of shedding some light on.
A more robust Tank
Even though the Tank’s design inspiration came from military vehicles, it was always a distinctly elegant proposition. While the wider brancards, sharper lugs, and less rectangular case of the Française altered that somewhat, it’s still a cheap replica Cartier dress watch, so stylishness is paramount. For a design decade that was particularly curvaceous, the Tank Française is anything but. The geometric octagonal crown, sharply cut-off lugs and (kind of) integrated bracelet set it apart from the rest. It was also the first Tank with a non-generic bracelet, so to speak. Even though it wasn’t integrated, the design flowed out of the case in a manner unseen before with any aaa quality fake Cartier Tank.
Instead of a soft rounding, the brancards are fairly slab-sided, transitioning from a highly polished flank to an equally shiny top. All the signature touches were here, however – including the rounded sapphire cabochon. In fairness, the more subtle angular details may not be as obvious on this well-loved example (courtesy of my partner who wears her watches), but you get my point.
Swiss movement replica Cartier being Cartier, there’s no way their creation would go unrefined. In the case of the ref. 1840, this meant a trio of heat-blued hands set against a scalloped guilloché pattern. It’s an instant reminder of the dials that were fitted to the Tanks released as part of the Collection Privée high end fake Cartier Paris, which was, as many fans would argue, the pinnacle of fine watchmaking for the Parisian house.