What We Know
Cartier has updated the Tank Française. Introduced in 1996, the Française brought a metal bracelet to the Tank family. The Française soon spread far and wide, becoming one of AAA UK Cartier replica watches’ bestsellers. Sticking to the age-old adage about not fixing things that aren’t broken, Cartier has left the Française largely unchanged over the past 20-plus years.
Now, this revamped Tank Française lineup features a total of seven references: small and medium sizes in gold (with or without diamonds), and small, medium, and large cases in steel. The large steel case uses an automatic movement featuring a date window at three o’clock while the small and medium references all use a quartz movement.
From a distance, the new high quality fake Cartier Tank Française watches looks a lot like the old Tank Française, but Cartier has updated some of the watch’s details to give it a more modern vibe:
The case sizes are all a touch larger than the previous Française – to avoid statistical overload, I’ll leave those specs for the bottom of this article.
The case and bracelet feature more brushed satin finishes, as opposed to the more polished surfaces traditional to the Française.
This satin finish is perhaps most noticeable on the end links, which have also been updated – now, one large brushed end link connects the case to the bracelet (previously, three links did this work).
The crown has been integrated into the case, giving it a slightly sleeker profile.
Finally, the gold models now feature a champagne dial, while their steel counterparts all feature silver. All of the small models have a sunray finish on the dial, while the medium and large steel models use a satin finish.
Numerals are applied on the dial instead of printed.
What We Think
It’s nice to see Cartier updating the Française in a very Cartier way. That is to say: Lots of small changes that add up to best Cartier replica watches that’s a little more modern. It’s a formula that’s now worked with standard production pieces like the Tank Must and limited editions like last year’s Pebble. Alone, none of the changes above are particularly interesting, but together they create a watch that seems a little more sleek, sporty, and contemporary.
Listen, the Tank Française probably isn’t the most exciting of Cartier models to hardcore horologists, and Cartier doesn’t necessarily help that perception by only using an automatic movement in the large model in steel. But, the Française is the most popular top Cartier copy watches this side of the Ballon Bleu because it’s a beautiful Cartier design in an affordable package (at least, as far as Cartier goes), not because of any particular technical revolution.
The natural conclusion to draw is that Cartier updated this watch to meet the supposed sporty and relaxed sensibilities of today’s consumer, even if the brand has experienced a resurgence over the past few years mostly through its Swiss made replica Cartier watches that are the exact opposite of such suppositions (small, precious metals, leather straps). Similarly, it’s interesting – from a business perspective, at least – that Cartier brought a large, steel Française with an automatic movement to the catalog, even if the movement inside is Cartier’s caliber 1853, a Sellita-based automatic with 38 hours of power reserve. At $5,500, it’ll find plenty of competition – both within Cartier’s own catalog (like the Santos) and from other brands. But again, consumers – and lots of them – buy the Française for the design, not the movement.
But only putting a mechanical movement in the large steel Française is the predictable choice. Maybe there’s more to come in the next few years, but what if this small gold 2023 Cartier Tank Française super clone watches had a mechanical movement? Sure, it probably wouldn’t make a lot of sense – from a business or really from any other perspective – but that’s the type of swing for the fences that would show Cartier at its best, as one of the only houses that stands at the intersection (and the pinnacle) of both jewelry and horology.
Still, most of the tweaks to the new China replica Cartier Tank Française watches seem like small improvements that will be appreciated on wrist more readily than in pictures, so I’m excited to get hands-on with the new Française soon. Stay tuned for a Hands-On of the new Tank Française in the coming weeks.
