Short answer
A replica Cartier Tank Must with a white dial is a copy of the Cartier Tank Must steel watch. It is not made by Cartier. Prices run from about $25 for a base quartz copy to $600 for a copy with a claimed Swiss quartz or automatic movement. The genuine steel Tank Must with a white dial sells for about $3,000 to $3,600 at retail. Importing or selling a replica in the United States is illegal under federal law.
The genuine Tank Must
Cartier relaunched the Tank Must in 2021. The name comes from Les Must de Cartier, a line introduced in 1977. The current steel model uses a white dial with black Roman numerals, blued steel sword hands, and a chemin de fer minute track.
- Case: steel, 33.7 mm by 25.5 mm (large), 29.5 mm by 22 mm (small)
- Thickness: 6.6 mm on the large quartz model
- Crystal: sapphire
- Movement: high autonomy quartz, battery life about 8 years
- Water resistance: 30 m
- SolarBeat: photovoltaic movement, strap material about 40 percent plant based
Retail prices change with currency and region. Treat any figure older than a year as a guide only.
What buyers mean by Swiss replica
Dealers use the phrase for a watch with a Swiss quartz or automatic movement inside a copied case. The case, dial, hands, and strap come from other suppliers, in most cases from China. No replica ships with a valid Cartier serial number. Cartier will not service one.
Where copies differ from the original
- Dial print: Roman numeral stroke width, spacing, and minute track weight
- Crown: a glass or low grade stone cabochon instead of the blue cabochon on the original
- Case back: engraving depth, font, and reference text
- Strap: stamped leather or synthetic material instead of calf or alligator
- Hands: blue coating that flakes, or a shade that reads purple under light
Movement type is hard to confirm without opening the case. A quartz copy and the genuine quartz watch both tick once per second, so the seconds hand does not settle the question.
Price tiers
- Under $50: base metal case, mineral glass, Chinese quartz
- $100 to $250: 316L steel case, sapphire crystal in some builds, better dial print
- $300 to $600: claimed Swiss quartz or automatic movement, closer case dimensions, better strap
Legal status in the United States
18 U.S.C. 2320 covers trafficking in counterfeit goods. A first offense carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $2,000,000 for an individual. U.S. Customs and Border Protection can seize shipments at the border, including single watches ordered for personal use. A seizure letter follows, and the buyer has limited grounds to recover the item.
Numbers to compare
Ask a seller for the case width, lug to lug, thickness, and movement name. A large Tank Must copy should measure near 33.7 mm wide and 6.6 mm thick. Numbers off by more than half a millimeter point to a generic case that was not built for this model. Ask what the strap is made of. Ask if the crystal is sapphire or mineral glass. A seller who cannot answer these four questions is reselling stock photos.