Over the past dozen or so years, Cartier has made a habit of releasing attention-grabbing skeletonized high quality Cartier replica watches. It started with the Santos 100 in 2009, and this year Cartier is introducing the Santos-Dumont Skeleton in a trio of metals.
The three skeletonized Santos-Dumont models are powered by Cartier’s new caliber 9629 MC, a micro-rotor caliber comprised of 212 components that Cartier says it took two years to develop at its manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
The centerpiece of the new cheap UK fake Cartier Santos-Dumont Skeleton collection watches is the yellow-gold version, which will be limited to 150 examples. The case and bezel use blue lacquer, kind of like last year’s knock-out lacquered Santos-Dumont limited editions, and it looks just as nice. Alongside this, Cartier’s introducing a rose gold and a stainless-steel Santos-Dumont.
Aside from the movement, which, to be clear, is a huge aside, the skeletonized best replica Cartier Santos-Dumont watches is familiar: The case measures 31mm and 8mm in thickness (“Large,” in Cartier lexicon), the bezel has exposed screws, and each model uses Cartier’s signature blue cabochon and blue steel hands.
Cartier’s in-house caliber 9629 MC is a beautifully executed automatic caliber. Most noticeable is the micro-rotor at 8 o’clock, in the shape of the Demoiselle, a series of lightweight planes designed by the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont himself (he was buddies with Louis Cartier, who designed the original perfect copy Cartier Santos-Dumont wristwatches for him). Never one to miss out on a little romance, the little model plane soars over a globe.
What We Think
Since 2009, Cartier has been designing movements to be skeletonzied from the ground up, and it shows. Let’s remember that Cartier only re-introduced the Santos-Dumont in 2019 as a nice entry-level quartz Cartier replica watches for sale.
Four years later, we’ve got a skeletonized micro-rotor Santos-Dumont – we’ve all come a long way. The lacquered yellow-gold version won’t set the Swiss movements Cartier super clone watches internet ablaze like last year’s trio because of its limited nature, but the blue-and-gold combo just works together (I grew up watching Reggie Miller torment the Knicks while wearing the Indiana Pacers’ yellow-and-blue kits, but I know my Golden State, Notre Dame, Los Angeles Rams, and so many other fans will be nodding along in agreement). Sure, I could’ve done without the little model plane zipping around the globe (the micro-rotor), but that’s Cartier – weaving its historical narrative into its modern brand, sometimes even to a fault.
Every time Cartier does a skeletonized watch, it’s a little different. The caliber is structured to fit top replica Cartier‘s famous shaped watches just so. The Asymetrique is different from the Cloche is different from the Chinoise; and nothing’s like last year’s Masse Mystérieuse. Sure, it’s a formula. But the magic’s in the execution.
By the way, this isn’t luxury Cartier fake watches’ only skeletonized effort this year. This year’s complicated, skeletonized Cartier is a pocket watch that’s a minute repeater, flying tourbillon, and perpetual calendar. And it measures just 35mm. Seeing a beautiful modern pocket watch like this only made me appreciate the pared-back Santos-Dumont more.
Cartier’s Privé collection is all about reimagining the classics of the past while focusing both on adapting them to current times and using mechanical movements. In recent years, the French maison already introduced re-editions of some of its most iconic luxury Cartier replica watches. The majority of them are Tanks, like the Asymétrique, the Cintrée, and last year’s Chinoise. This year, it was time for the Tank Normale to make its reappearance, and boy, did Cartier deliver!
The Tank Louis Cartier and the Must derivative might actually be the better-known Tanks by now. Those are the models with the more rounded lugs and sides. Many different versions, colors, and even solar-powered models have been launched. But it all started with the original UK AAA fake Cartier Tank watches, which the brand now calls the “Normale.” At Watches and Wonders, we were able to go hands-on with versions of the watch in both yellow gold and platinum. And in doing so, it quickly became clear that these aren’t such normal watches at all.
Ab-Normale
The design of the original Tank from 1919 was inspired by the Renault FT-17 tanks used during the First World War. Especially from above and from the sides, the brancards clearly resemble the shape of the caterpillar tracks. Those Renault tanks weren’t made to be elegant at all, of course. But Louis Cartier somehow was able to turn the inspiration into a very elegant-looking watch. To do so, he used the signature Roman numerals, polished bevels, blued apple hands, and the proud cabochon on the crown.
Apart from the hands, all the other design elements have made their return on the Tank Normale that debuted a couple of weeks ago. The case now measures 32.6mm long and 25.7mm wide, which, I believe, means this is one of the biggest Tank Normales ever made. It still isn’t a big watch, though, and at 6.85mm thick, it’s also very slim. Nevertheless, it does have a lot of presence on the wrist. This comes down to the combination of the iconic design and the weight of the yellow gold or platinum. This heft is especially noticeable when you pair the cheap Cartier replica watches with their matching brushed brick-style bracelets.
The movement, crown, and hands
Inside the Tank Normale is a movement from Le Temps Manufacture that perfect Cartier copy watches calls caliber 070. It’s a movement with 21 jewels that runs at 25,200vph and has a 38-hour power reserve. You operate it through the cabochon-set crown. On the version made of 950 platinum, the crown has a red ruby, and on the 18K yellow gold version, it has a blue sapphire. The latter’s crown matches very nicely with the blued set of steel hands. On the platinum version, the steel hands are simply polished and have no color to them.
We saw the same combination of the cabochon and the hands in last year’s Tank Chinoise models. It gives the platinum version a little more of a monotone look. It looks good, but I’d prefer the blued hands in combination with a sapphire cabochon, just like the 1919 original. But I guess the red cabochon is there to tell you the case is made of platinum, so in that way, it makes sense. The move away from the apple-tipped hands for these models does as well. There are just a few best replica Cartier watches with those hands left in Cartier’s portfolio. The majority now have the brand’s very recognizable and subtle sword hands, and so do these.
A hefty Tank
As soon as I picked up the 2023 Cartier super clone watches from the tray at the presentation, I immediately noticed the significant weight. This was, in large part, due to the bracelet, which is quite a muscular piece of engineering. The links aren’t much thinner than the case is, and the bracelet doesn’t taper towards the clasp. The links are also very close to each other, and therefore, they do not articulate fully. But it does mean that the bracelet keeps a very nice shape on the wrist. In a way, it reminds me a bit of the way the bracelet feels on my stainless steel Santos. It really is a part of the overall design of the watch and certainly not an afterthought.
I would’ve appreciated an easier way to switch out the bracelet for a leather strap, though. Right now, there are just two cutouts through which you can reach the spring bar with a tool. But it’s nowhere as nice as the proprietary QuickSwitch system that’s on the current Santos de Cartier, for example. One incredibly nice feature, though, is that the links covering the folding clasp have been milled out to let the clasp’s “arms” lay almost fully flush inside of them. I’ve never seen such an elegant solution before, but I think other brands should certainly follow Cartier’s example here.
A vintage-looking sapphire crystal
The other thing that immediately catches your attention when you buy 2023 replica Cartier Tank Normale watches is that very vintage-looking crystal covering the dial. I had already read that it was sapphire, but at the meeting, I tapped it with my fingernail to be sure. Because of the way it looks with both the dome and facets, it could also very well be made out of mineral or Plexiglass. Anyway, it is indeed sapphire, and it looks absolutely gorgeous.
As you can see in the picture above, it doesn’t even protrude that far above the case. It stands just high enough to give it that vintage flair. The facets are also not as sharp as on the Rado Diastar, for example, or on the Seiko SARB models with faceted crystals. But they’re not there to turn the crystal into art. The facets are there to make it look like the crystal on the original Tank, and they’ve succeeded. And again, I think they look great and suit the Tank Normale to a tee.
On the wrist
There were many novelties to see at the Cartier presentation, but the wholesale fake Cartier Tank Normale watches was the one I was looking forward to the most. Because of its price and limited availability, it’ll probably never enter my collection. Nevertheless, I thought it was a brilliant-looking watch on paper. And well, it certainly didn’t disappoint in person. As soon as I put it on my wrist, it felt right at home. The bigger size works great on my 17cm (6.7″) wrist, and especially on the bracelet, it looks very much like my Santos reference 2823.
The thin, polished bevels on the edges of the case prominently emphasize the brushing on the sides. And that finishing along with the updated sword hands makes the watch seem a bit more powerful now. Yet it still is just as elegant as it was before. We also noticed how the new Tank Française had a more brushed and refined look than it previously did. In that case, I wasn’t really a fan. But in the case of the Tank Normale, I think it works great.
I also tried the Cartier replica watches site on with the alligator strap. I liked wearing that combination a lot more than wearing the Tank Must. For some reason, it sat better on my wrist, maybe because of the weight of the case. But perhaps it’s just because the Tank Normale seems more square than rectangular.
Final words
All in all, I think the designers at Cartier did a great job with the new Cartier Tank Normale fake watches online store. I could only hope for the brand to introduce something similar in a material that’s a little more affordable. But with the model being part of the Privé collection, I acknowledge that the chances of that happening are slim. So for now, there’s nothing else to do than save up €33,300 for the yellow gold model on the leather strap, €37,400 for the platinum version on a strap, €49,800 for the gold model on a bracelet, or €57,500 for the platinum Tank Normale on the bracelet.
Cartier is refreshing the Tank Américaine, one of its more modern takes on the Tank shape. No, it’s not the most modern Tank design – we see you Française – but the Américaine was introduced in 1989 in response to a trend towards larger AAA Cartier replica watches.
The new-for-2023 Tank Américaine lineup includes 11 total UK top Cartier fake watches across three sizes: mini, small, and large (see below for case specs). Apparently this means we’ll have to pour one out for the medium size, which we took for a Week On The Wrist in 2017.
Across all sizes, the high quality replica Cartier Tank Américaine watches will be offered in steel and rose gold; the mini and small versions also offer a diamond-treated case (and bracelet, in the case of a mini white gold version). In classic Cartier style, all will be offered on an alligator strap, and the mini and small sizes in gold will also offer an updated bracelet that’s all polished.
Like the Tank Américaine of old, the case has a combination of polished and brushed surfaces that gives the case structure and architecture. The dial on the small and mini versions is a familiar sunray finish, while the large Américaine has a vertical, satin brushed finish that I’m excited to see in person – Cartier has used this on a few perfect Cartier copy watches recently, and the effect is typically quite striking, different from Cartier’s traditional dial treatments.
In short, Cartier has refined the case of the Tank Américaine by making its curved shape and brancards (sides) just a little finer and curvier. The large version also houses a new caliber 1899 MC, which Cartier says is thinner than its previous automatic movements. It shows in the case dimensions: The new large Swiss made replica Cartier Tank Américaine watches is 8.6mm in thickness, down from the previous generation’s 9.5mm. The small and mini Américaine both use quartz movements.
What We Think
It was only 2017 when Cartier introduced the first Tank Américaine in steel, ostensibly to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Tank. The luxury Cartier Tank Américaine super clone watches itself is much younger than the Tank proper, introduced only in 1989, with words like “modernity” and “masculinity” used as its raison d’être. That is to say: It was a bigger, bolder take on the Tank Cintree of old, intended for an era when bigger, bolder, and apparently, American, were the things to be.
It drew on the 2023 replica Cartier Tank Cintree watches for inspiration, but instead of a curved caseback, the curved front of the Tank Américaine is anchored by a flat caseback. This gives the Tank Américaine a more modern wrist presence compared to the Cintree, where the curved caseback drapes around the wrist.
Fast-forward 20 years, and thin is in again. Cartier’s popularity over the past few years has been largely thanks to its small, thin dress Cartier fake watches for sale, and now it’s updating the Tank Américaine to better fit this mold. To be sure, the new Américaine still carries the largest profile of the Tank collection, but everything’s been slimmed down and refined just a smidge.
Perhaps because it’s a more modern take on the Tank, the Américaine continues to feel like one of the more approachable, everyday options in Cartier’s Tank lineup, especially in steel (30 meters of water resistance helps, too). This update is Cartier being Cartier: from a distance, you’d hardly notice the difference. But up close, the details and lines seem just a bit more refined and thoughtful; and so the Tank will continue its march forward for the next 100 years or so.
