Cartier Has More Legendary Tanks to Show You

The watch world has at least couple things in common with Hollywood: glitz and glamour and big stars—the Submariner, the Royal Oak, the Tank—anchoring blockbuster new releases. Both industries also share a passion for the reboot or sequel—the almighty intellectual property. This obsession has grown stale in Hollywood, but in watches, there are few things more exciting than a good revival. Case in point: Cartier’s reintroduction of its OG Tank, the Normale. 

The brand has been reviving models for seven years now through the Cartier Privé program, which has reintroduced the bell-shaped Cloche, the tilted Asymétrique, the needs-no-introduction Crash, and last year’s Chinoise. This year, that honor goes to the Normale, which was the first Tank Louis Cartier designed in 1917. 

While the Normale is the original, its shape is slightly different from that of the 2023 Tank, which is based on the more rectangular Louis Cartier. The original is brawnier: square like a Chad’s jaw, with a beefier case than the typical LC. This version of the Tank wasn’t produced in tremendous quantities, so the revival will be hugely exciting to many collectors.

There’s a lot to unpack with the new Normale. Here are some of my favorite things about it. 

• The yellow gold is the baseline version of the new Normale. But the real prize, to me, is the platinum model. The vintage platinum Normales are coveted at auction. 
• Platinum already rules—so dang heavy and substantial it really feels like you got your money’s worth—but Cartier went and added some special details to this version that make it distinctive from other Tanks. Take the hands, for instance: a majority of Tanks feature “blued” hands, but on the Normale, they’re “polished gray steel.” Also…
• RUBY CABOCHON! Most Tanks have a cabochon—that gem protruding from the winding crown—made out of sapphire. The ruby on the platinum Normale makes it instantly recognizable. A nice shade of red always seems to signal something special in the watch world: think of the Rolex double-red SeaDweller or Tudor Pelagos 39. Cartier applying the push-the-red-button principle not to the dial but the cabochon is tight. 
• While the yellow gold and platinum versions of the Normale are faithful tributes to the 1917 version, Cartier is also bringing the watch into the future. The other side of this new collection is a trio of skeletonized (so you can see the mechanism normally hidden by the dial) Normales. One is set with 42 diamonds—enough to turn even the most reserved collector into a yabba-dabba-dooing Fred Flinstone.