The Cartier Tank Mini Keeps Small Watch Fever Burning

2024-04-15

Tiny watches have become ubiquitous within the collector community over the past couple of years. A wide breadth of social media content has led to a voracious appetite amongst collectors (old and new) for smaller, design-led watches. Celebrities have embraced the trend (see Timothée Chalamet wearing a ladies' Crash), and in turn have caused the wider world to pay attention to "men in small watches." Furthermore, the notion of gender at brands like Cartier and Audemars Piguet is no longer presented as a strict binary when it comes to new product releases. You could say that the watch world is loosening up a little.

The new Mini Tank doesn't feel like a surprise because, well, it's pretty much bang on trend. That's not to say its size doesn't still beg for a reaction. The visual contrast of a watch this small on Ben Clymer's wrist resulted in every one of my colleagues in the room pausing the presentation to take phone snaps for personal social media coverage. And it's not too hard to figure out why. "I'm just looking for a new and different watch wearing experience," was Ben's concise response to my text asking him why he too seemed to have Tank Mini fever.

A bite-sized Tank is truly Art Deco in proportion. When I tried on the Mini it reminded me of a geometric Cartier watch from 1925 I once saw for sale at a vintage jewelry concession in Bergdorf Goodman. I tried on said watch, despite knowing it was not for me (I prefer not-so-subtle Serpentis over vintage cocktail watches) because it was elegant and the dimensions were a product of its period. It felt classic, not diminutive. The new Mini measures 24mm x 16.5mm, and comes on a deliciously shiny alligator leather black strap. The only real difference from a larger size modern LC is the lack of chemin-de-fer minutes track, replaced instead with a faint line so as not to busy the teeny tiny dial. This watch also feels classic rather than a meek miniature version of its larger predecessor.

Excerpt from Hodinkee

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