Introducing: The New Cartier Tank Française

With a main role on the wrist of movie icons Rami Malek and Catherine Deneuve

January 18, 2023

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Big news from Cartier! The new Cartier Tank Française is here! The model that debuted back in 1996 has now received an update. Cartier’s new Tank Française has a mostly satin finish, a recessed crown, and a more rounded case profile. Furthermore, the large-size model comes with an automatic movement.

An early Tank from 1922

The iconic Tank

The Cartier Tank goes all the way back to 1917 — wartime — hence the inspiration from the Renault tank that you’ll find in the case shape of the Tank watch. From then onwards, Cartier introduced several variations and iterations of the Tank. Perhaps the most iconic is the version that was introduced back in 1922, the Tank Louis Cartier (which we called the “King of Tanks” in this 2015 article by George Cramer). A more in-depth article on the Tank Louis Cartier that Lex wrote in 2021 can be found here.

Image courtesy of Cartier

The Tank Must, Américaine, and Française

Let’s move on. In 1977, which happened to be an excellent year, Cartier introduced the Tank Must de Cartier. This collection of Tank watches followed the shape of the Tank Louis Cartier and featured dials in one color and without numerals. For the dial colors, Cartier used colors inspired by onyx, coral, ivory, lapis lazuli, and garnets.

Cartier Tank Américaine XL — Image courtesy of Xupes

Later on, in 1988, the Tank Américaine was born. The shape of the Tank Américaine is more rectangular (or longer, to be precise) and slightly domed. Then, as written above, in 1996, Cartier introduced a new Tank variation that came with a metal bracelet. According to Cartier, the Tank Française refers to a very French state of mind, riding the line between classicism and freedom of style.

Rami Malek and Catherine Deneuve for the new Cartier Tank Française campaign — Image courtesy of Cartier

And today, Cartier announced the new Tank Française. The brand is releasing this updated model with the support of movie stars Rami Malek and Catherine Deneuve. Both feature in a short movie directed by Guy Ritchie. This movie, without a specific title, will also come out today and can be seen on Cartier’s channels. The folks from Cartier shared with us some numbers that they collected after shooting the movie:

88 technicians, hairdressers, make-up artists, and stylists
116 meters of traveling shots on the bridge
18,261 steps walked by Rami Malek on the bridge
26,202 photos taken during the shoot
447 minutes of rushes
“Bravo” was the French word said most by Rami Malek during the shoots

Rami Malek wearing the new Cartier Tank Française in stainless steel — Image courtesy of Cartier

The new Cartier Tank Française collection

Back to the watch itself. There will be seven new models within the Tank Française collection including four in 18K yellow gold and three in stainless steel. The three steel models all come in different sizes.

Reference WSTA0065

First, there is the small model (WSTA0065), which measures 25.7mm long, 21.2mm wide, and 6.8mm thick. The width of the bracelet is 15.7mm. It has a silvered sunray dial and blued sword hands. The quartz movement shows hours and minutes.

Reference WSTA0074

Then there’s the medium-size model (WSTA0074), which measures 32mm long, 27mm wide, and 7.1 mm thick. The bracelet has a width is 19.5mm. The movement and dial are equal to the ones in the small Tank Française model, the only difference being that the dial is proportionally larger.

Reference WASTA0067

Last but not least for the steel models, there’s a large version with an automatic movement. The dial is similar to those of the two smaller references, but this automatic version comes with a date window at 3 o’clock. This large Tank Française watch (WSTA0067) measures 36.7mm long, 30.5mm wide, and 10.1mm thick. The width of the stainless steel bracelet is 22mm.

Reference WGTA0114

The gold Tank Française references

The 18K yellow gold Tank Française models consist of four references, but there are just two different sizes. Each size also has a variant with a diamond-set crown and brancards. The WGTA0114 is identical to the WJTA0039, except the latter features 23 brilliant cut diamonds, totaling 0.78 carats.

Reference WJTA0039

The dimensions of these watches are identical, measuring 25.7mm long, 21.2mm wide, and 6.8mm thick. Both have a golden sunray dial with Roman numerals in relief and blued sword hands. The yellow gold bracelet has a width of 15mm.

Reference WGTA0113

The yellow gold medium versions (WGTA0113 and WJTA040) measure 32mm long, 27mm wide, and 7.1mm thick. The diamond-set version (WJTA040) has 27 brilliant cut diamonds, totaling 1.22 carats.

Reference WJTA040

Both watches have the same golden sunray dial with Roman numerals, just like the smaller versions, but again, slightly larger. The width of the gold bracelet is 19.4mm. Interestingly enough, there’s no large-size gold Tank Française with an automatic movement and date.

What has changed?

As written in the introduction, the new Tank Française now has more rounded brancards and a recessed crown. Most surfaces on the watch and bracelet have a satin finish, except for the thin, polished arms of the H-shaped links in the bracelet. Besides that, the design of the end links on the new Tank Française is very different from that of the previous models. The T-shaped end links now have one large satin-finished surface instead of different finishes and an additional, decorative, engraved line.

The previous Tank Française model

Wearing comfort

The dials on the new Tank Française models have a sunray finish, either in silver or gold, with Roman numerals in relief. In the press release, Cartier adds that the bracelet is a dense mesh of links that move as one. That sounds very promising with respect to the wearing comfort of the Tank Française. All models have the same water-resistance rating of 100 feet / 30 meters (3 bar / 3 ATM).

POA

Because of the satin finish on the case and bracelet, the new Cartier Tank Française now looks a bit sportier than in the past, in my opinion. Perhaps “sporty” is not the right word for this elegant watch, but it simply looks more “integrated” than ever before. The recessed crown is something I need to get used to, I guess, but it does add up if Cartier’s goal was to create a more integrated look for the Tank Française.

Cartier decided not to release or share any information on pricing beforehand. As soon as these watches become available on the Cartier website, the pricing will probably be disclosed. So until then, the prices are on application. You can find out more information on the official Cartier website.

Update: here are the prices for the new models (including VAT)

WSTA0065 (stainless steel, small size): €3,800
WSTA0074 (stainless steel, medium size): €4,800
WSTA0067 (stainless steel, large size): €5,900
WGTA0114 (gold, small size): €22,700
WJTA0039 (gold, small size, diamonds): €29,900
WGTA0113 (gold, medium size): €26,400
WJTA0040 (gold, medium size, diamonds): €33,300

What do you think of the new look for the Tank Française? Is it an improvement, or do you prefer the previous design? Let us know in the comments.