Click here to watch the video about the history of Tank American.

In this collection, we will explain the "Evolution of American Tanks" from a male perspective.

Among Cartier's men's watches, the American is thought to be the second most popular after the Santos, and when you look at the American collections over the years, you will find many wonderful models that are not currently available.

I believe that by watching this video you will deepen your knowledge of American watches, and by including discontinued models you will be able to choose a wider range of watches, so please stay with us until the end.

The evolution of the American tank

While many of Cartier's designs, such as the Tank and Santos, were created in the first half of the 20th century, the Tank Américaine is a relatively new model, having been created in 1989.

However, if you take into account the American prototype, the Cintrée, the picture changes again.

This is a sketch created for Princess Mdivani, but in fact before the American model, there was a model called the Cintrée, which was born in 1921.

Now let's look at the differences between Cintrée and current American models.

The basic shape is the same, so there is basically no difference, but the Cintrée has Breguet hands, while the American has pencil hands.

The cabochon shape of the crown is also different; while the American model has a cut crown, the Cintrée model has a bullet-shaped crown.

And this is a Cintrée watch that was born in the 1950s, but as you can see, the design of the hands and crown has been changed to make it look much more American.

The original design was modelled on the Tank Cintrée, but with the growing popularity of larger watches at the time, it was reworked in a bolder size.

What both the Cintrée and American models have in common is that their cases are curved.

The Tank Américaine uses the added length of the case to give it a curved shape that fits the shape of the wrist.

In this way, what the Tank cannot do but the Tank Cintrée and Tank Américain can is this "curvature."

The design has been tweaked over the years and various movements (quartz, hand-wound, automatic) have been fitted, but the basic shape of the American has remained the same.

Now let's take a look at the history of the evolution of American cars.

Tank American of the 1990s

When the Tank Américaine was released, two models equipped with quartz movements were released on the market, one in yellow gold and one in white gold.

It is equipped with a quartz movement due to the boom in quartz watches that continued until the end of the 1990s.

Now, please see the image below↓

Reference 811905 (small seconds, date window at 3 o'clock, quartz caliber)

The first one is a model with small seconds and date notation.

This design was popular in the 90s, and even Cartier, which pursues simplicity, places small seconds and a date on the dial.

However, because it is equipped with a quartz movement, it is not as thick as an automatic watch, and even though it is an American watch, it is stylish.

Reference 819908 (Pointer date, moon phase, quartz caliber)

This is the second moon phase model, which was also a design that was popular in the 90s and was released by a variety of brands.

It consists of three hands, one of which is designed to display the date.

You don't see them very often these days, but back then, moon phase watches, which showed the phases of the moon on the dial, were considered stylish watches.

As you can see, the first-generation American is slightly different from the prototype of the American car we know today, but its rectangular style, which is longer than a tank, gives it the feel of a Tank American.

And this is where the true power of the American people begins to be demonstrated.

Special tank American from the early 1990s

From 1998 to 2008, the CPCP (Collection Privée Cartier Paris) line was released as a collection of modern arrangements of Cartier's past models, but the American base model was created before that.

Now let's look at the actual watch:

In the 1990s, the market, which had previously been dominated by quartz watches, gradually began to demand mechanical watches.

The Tank Américaine, with a white gold case, was born to meet that need.

Let's take a look at the movement it is equipped with.

By this time, having become part of the Richemont Group, the company was able to access technology from within the group.

So Piaget, a company that specializes in manufacturing ultra-thin movements, provided us with the Cal. 9P, which we converted slightly to become the Cal. 9P2.

By the way, this movement is only 2mm thick, making it extremely thin.

Therefore, the watch itself is made thin and slim.

The design is simple with two hands and the dial is guilloche engraved.

Let's take a look at the American made during the CPCP era.

Now let's look at the Americans made during the CPCP era.

The CPCP collection is available in 18K yellow gold and platinum.

Although this Americana was made as part of the CPCP collection, it is almost identical to the Ref. 1736 that was made before it.

The difference from Ref. 1736 is that the PARIS logo is placed under the CARTIER logo and the movement has been replaced with Cal. 430MC.

The Cal.430MC was also hand-wound, and an ultra-thin movement continued to be used.

Generally speaking, pieces from the CPCP collection are easy to identify and are currently traded at extremely high prices, but by looking at them from a slightly different angle, we can see that the Ref. 1736 made before that is a lesser known masterpiece, despite being made almost identically.

Tank American since the mid-2000s

In the mid-2000s, the Tank American from the CPCP collection came to an end and was replaced by a general line.

Its distinctive feature is that the exterior design has been almost inherited, with the only difference being the inclusion of a date display at the 6 o'clock position.

Additionally, automatic winding movements began to be installed.

Now let's look at the actual watch.

The case size is almost the same, the material is 18K yellow and white gold, and the dial continues to feature guilloche engraving.

The model on the far right with a black dial is a limited edition model and is available in smaller quantities compared to the other two models.

The guilloche engraving is not the typical sunburst type, but is decorated like a honeycomb dial, and the indexes are written in Arabic numerals, giving it a design that is reminiscent of a limited edition model.

Now let's take a look at the movement that was installed.

Although the appearance is almost the same as the models from the CPCP era, it is equipped with an ETA movement, which was relatively inexpensive to purchase, to clearly distinguish it from the CPCP collection.

The movement used is Cal. 2000, and by using this movement, they have succeeded in keeping the price of the American watch down.

However, these models are now out of production and are currently trading at extremely high prices.

A model change was made in 2017, but the American models made around that time were positioned like the men's version of what we now call the Baignoire, so they were all made with high-quality materials and came in a wide range of sizes, including XL and diamond models.

For more information on the discontinued American model, please see this video:

And this leads us to the current line we know today.

Lineup from 2017

In 2017, American watches began to be made with a new material, and stainless steel models were introduced, whereas up until that point they had only been made from high-quality materials.

This has resulted in a significant drop in price, making the model more affordable.

However, compared to the previous model, the men's line has fewer sizes and materials, so the range of choices is significantly narrower.

That said, until recently the LM size was only available in stainless steel, but pink gold was recently added, so it is likely that the number of sizes and materials will increase in the future.

Looking at the designs, it seems as though the style changes slightly to suit each watch, with some models having a date display and others not, and some having three hands and others two.

summary

To sum up, the American line has come to the present day with almost no deviation from its original form.

This just goes to show how popular this design is, and it seems likely that this trend will continue in the future.

The price has gone from being a luxury model to being more affordable, but if you look at the previous Tank Americans, you will see that there are many great models available even as second-hand models.

I think that looking at watches, both new and used, will give you a wider range of choices and help you get closer to your ideal watch.