Thread: 1980s Cartier Tank... lost but still loved.

Long time reader here in the Watches section but first time poster.

Thought I would share with you all a not so fancy watch I picked up a little while back.

I originally had an all black Cartier Tank Vermeil just like this stock photo here:



It was a piece my father gave to me from his small but loved watch collection. We have small wrists so this 31x23 watch fit okay.

When I received it, the watch hadn't run in about 10 years. After struggling with a small watch repair guy near where I was in grad school (Lubbock, TX) and having him try to replace the mainspring without any success I took it back from him after he had it for about 4 months. Keep in mind Lubbock is a small town and he was the only show in town. Nice guy, just didn't know WTF he was doing.

I spent about $200 there with him when I could've flown down to Houston, left it with Cartier and got it evrything in tip top shape including a new sapphire for $350... (Lesson learned) Cartier did a great job and I got to wear my watch for graduation.

There I was enjoying this great family piece that was now running 100%.

Well I didn't have it 8-9 months before someone broke into my car and took ALL 5 of my watches that I had in the trunk and was taking them out to get cleaned at a local Jeweler. The guy tore up my car pretty good and just got lucky that the watches happened to be there that morning since I got home after working a 32 hour shift and decided to sleep first instead of going to the jeweler right away.

So that happened about 1.5 years ago...

Fast forward to today and after hunting around for almost a year I stumbled upon a fair replacement:




I was sad to lose the other piece especially since it meant so much to me however its spirit lives on in this one. It runs very well but the strap is a cheapy replacement and man that deployment buckle is something that could probably be found at a flea market.

Now I'm just trying to find a strap/buckle that keeps the watch up to date with the times.

I saw this one here and tonight just e-mailed Rob (even though he's out of town) to see if he can create something like it in a similar color




Welp, that's my story.

So far I've got this and a little Lum-Tec Bull45 A8 that I'm enjoying.

I have a couple recent custom "homage" PAMs that I've really liked having but I know better than to mention them here

Thats a classic. Love that dial.

If anyone knows a good place to get a quality strap/buckle for this model please do let me know.

@ Salduchi: which dial sir? the straight black? 5 bars? 10 bars? all of them ?

5 and 10 bars, they reminds me of some really nice exotic wood floors.

As for a strap I would look at...

3-The Cartier Boutique

2-Rob Montana could probably accomodate

1- Oh yea baby, my personal favorite nic nak fishing hole....

Cartier leather strap | eBay

Nice piece and thanks for sharing the story. I hate thiefs.

I would also try ABP straps.

Originally Posted by blairtolar

Nice piece and thanks for sharing the story. I hate thiefs.

I would also try ABP straps.

Thanks blairtolar.

Luckily one of my neighbors called the cops so he dropped my in car xbox and some of my car audio in the bushes in our complex planning to go back for it later. He lucked out with the knapsack with all my watches bur most everything else got found the next morning by our maintenance folks.

Cops even questioned the guy and they let him go supposedly.I called the local precinct but they gave me nothing info wise. They couldn't find record of what officer went out there that night.

Ah well...

Originally Posted by Salduchi

5 and 10 bars, they reminds me of some really nice exotic wood floors.

As for a strap I would look at...

3-The Cartier Boutique

2-Rob Montana could probably accomodate

1- Oh yea baby, my personal favorite nic nak fishing hole....

Cartier leather strap | eBay

I agree... The 5 and 10 bars I just stumbled upon while looking for a replacement black face. when an opportunity came at the right price point I just went for it.

I haven't tried Cartier themselves. I'll check it out. As for the fishing hole everything I've seen is only enough to throw back so far.

Great watch! Ive only owned Cartier watches my whole life, let me know if you are interested in my Santos, it would compliment this greatly!

so while messing around with this piece I took out the caseback (since I'm an aspiring hobbyist in horrology) and lost a damn case screw that plopped onto my bedroom's carpeting. Hours later of frustration including going through the carpet dozens of times hoping it would pop up I gave up.

I took it to the Cartier boutique here in H-town and they sent it off.

I expected a nice heft $100+ bill for this gold casescrew especially since this is an out of production watch.

They so kindly sent it back and replaced the screw gratis.

Anyways so I picked up an inexpensive real croc strap and plopped it on just this past weekend and wished to share it with y'all...

better pics soon hopefully but here they are: