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Cartier Tank Louis XL, reference W1560003 review
This review is of the Cartier Tank Louis XL, reference W1560003. The case is 30 millimeters wide and 39.2 millimeters tall, and 8.3 millimeters thick. I am unclear when it was in the catalog, but approximately 2010 to 2018. It had an MSRP of $22,400 late in the run.
The current large Tank Louis Cartier Large is a more modest 25.5 millimeters by 33.7 millimeters and is generally thought of as a women’s size. When I looked for a Cartier Tank XL in rose gold, in a larger size with the pleasing 3:4 aspect ratio, other than the Collection Privée Cartier Paris (CPCP) collection which ran from 1998 to 2008 (of which only 200 rose gold were made beginning in 2006 and virtually impossible to find), this was the best choice for me.
There was a later rose gold Louis Cartier Tank Extra-flat, ref W1560017, which is 35 millimeters wide and 40 millimeters tall, with a 5.1 millimeter thick case size, with no date and a white-cream, no guilloche dial. The Cartier Tank MC is currently available in rose gold, but also had the wider profile at 34 millimeters by 44 millimeters. Both of these options looked too square in shape to me.
There was the now discontinued yellow gold Tank Solo in a 31 millimeter by 41 millimeter size, with flat brancards and a smaller synthetic cabochon. It also had a steel case back. It did not have a guilloche dial, just silver-white. It strayed from the classic Louis Cartier Tank DNA a bit.
My reference W1560003 has a manual wind caliber 9753 MC, which is based on the Piaget 430P, with a 43-hour power reserve. The guilloche dial includes a date aperture and a 40-hour power reserve indicator.
While in a perfect world I would like to locate the extremely rare CPCP version introduced in 2006, my reference W1560003 has the same ideal case size (30 millimeters x 39.2 millimeters, but 2.2 millimeters thicker) and has a Cartier rose gold deployant clasp. The crystal is slightly domed. It originally had a brown strap, but mine has a new matt black Camille Fournet strap from Cartier. This is to me is the proper shape and size for a men’s Cartier Tank.
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