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If you can find someone that is willing to part with there Collection Privee Cartier Tank XL (although I am biased) thats a watch I would try to track down. Its an icon. There maybe be several Tank style watches, but its a signature piece from Cartier which they first introduced around 1917. They made 200 in rose and 50 in platinum. The base movement is a Piaget, finished to Cartier's own standards, and its rectangular (most companies stuff a smaller round movement in a rectangular case because its less expensive to use in the long run as it can be used in round pieces also). Whether someone would be willing to sell theirs to you for $10K...I don't know. The few others I know that own them, love them and aren't parting with them. Still no harm in looking/asking. There are some other variations on Tanks from Cartier that are also quite nice...and you may be able to get for less as there are many more of them out there like the Tank Americaine. The Tank Chinoise from Cartier is also a cool design, a tad smaller but very handsome...its a bit more square than rectangular. Here are a few photos of mine. Best regards, Dino P. S. Also if you're just looking for rectangular watch and not necessarily a Tank the JLC Reverso offers many great options.I want to buy a tank watch, any suggestions? $10,000 budget.
Maybe we need to form a support group for those of us lacking Speedys.
That Cartier is pure class. Every time I see someone wearing a giant wrist clock with a tailored business suit, I want to hit them with a picture like that.
Does anyone else live in Asia, or Japan? I'm thinking leather straps in 40C heat and humidity might not be a great idea!
Thank you all for your nice comments about my choice of a speed master as a first watch. I absolutely love watches, but good ones cost a little more of course
I'll get a leather strap at some point; maybe a black first.
BTW, it has a nice display back
Does anyone else live in Asia, or Japan? I'm thinking leather straps in 40C heat and humidity might not be a great idea!
Now I get it. And now I am thinking about it a lot. Seems like if you go with a Stainless model, it's not totally unthinkable to have the enamel-work could get up 70-80% of the cost of the base watch you are applying it to?..
What was the experience like, for anyone who went through the custom design process? I don't think I want something as basic as monogram, or single colored shield, or maps, that are on the JLC build it yourself site.. Come up with artwork and then submit, and they quote you a price? Do you have to have it photo ready? Do you proof it? Is it really around $5-7000 for the custom work?
What Reverso would you lean to? Kind of like the Grand Reverso Calendar? (I'm also a little ignorant as to which of the Reverso's don't allow customization - other than the duetto's)
Does anyone else live in Asia, or Japan? I'm thinking leather straps in 40C heat and humidity might not be a great idea!
Thanks Roger. It's one of my favorite watches. IMHO its a watch that shows how simplicity in design can be beautiful and relevant even nearly 100 years after it was introduced.
I think you'll liveThank you all for your nice comments about my choice of a speed master as a first watch. I absolutely love watches, but good ones cost a little more of courseI'll get a leather strap at some point; maybe a black first. BTW, it has a nice display back
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Does anyone else live in Asia, or Japan? I'm thinking leather straps in 40C heat and humidity might not be a great idea!![]()
Lookin' good, brother.
That is one handsome, handsome watch.New shoes for the Speedy 9300. Worn on the bracelet since day one, I decided to try it out on a strap. I dug through the strap drawer and found a nice Camille Fournet in semi-glosse black gator, but thought it looked a touch too formal on this sporty watch. So I tried this matte medium brown TWB croc instead:![]()
Quote: If you can find someone that is willing to part with there Collection Privee Cartier Tank XL (although I am biased) thats a watch I would try to track down. Its an icon. There maybe be several Tank style watches, but its a signature piece from Cartier which they first introduced around 1917. They made 200 in rose and 50 in platinum. The base movement is a Piaget, finished to Cartier's own standards, and its rectangular (most companies stuff a smaller round movement in a rectangular case because its less expensive to use in the long run as it can be used in round pieces also). Whether someone would be willing to sell theirs to you for $10K...I don't know. The few others I know that own them, love them and aren't parting with them. Still no harm in looking/asking. There are some other variations on Tanks from Cartier that are also quite nice...and you may be able to get for less as there are many more of them out there like the Tank Americaine. The Tank Chinoise from Cartier is also a cool design, a tad smaller but very handsome...its a bit more square than rectangular. Here are a few photos of mine. Best regards, Dino P. S. Also if you're just looking for rectangular watch and not necessarily a Tank the JLC Reverso offers many great options.![]()
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Thanks rnguy.That is one handsome, handsome watch.
The enamel work on the SS Reversos is not "enamel", it's an epoxy resin (not unlike wood filler, but nicer). That is why it's "baked" at 80C, it's actually cured at that temperature.
While I agree that beautiful work can come out of that process, I am undecided as to whether adorning a watch with coloured plastic is the "best" way to go about customising one's watch. And the cost is just exorbitant for something akin to fancy nail polish - starts at $1-1.5k, and goes up up up depending on complexity. Most prep for the epoxy is machine done as well - you're not getting a fully hand engraved design.
Only gold Reversos can have fired/vitreous/grand feu enamel applied, and JLC will only do it for new gold Reversos - i.e. you have to place the enameling order at the time of purchasing your gold Reverso.
IME...
Monograms are easy - all JLC boutiques (not multibrand ADs) have font samples. There are 5 or 6 "standard" fonts that JLC offers for monograms, and you can preview them here - http://personalisation.jaeger-lecoultre.com/#/personnalisation?model=2788570&step=3
It's as simple as 1. choosing your Reverso, 2. choosing the font, 3. choosing the layout (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, etc) and 3. placing your order. Engraving a SS Reverso with your initials using the JLC "standard" fonts should cost you less than $1000. Fonts can be further customised with coloured epoxy resin for an additional cost.
If there are engravers in your area, check them out if you are considering something simple as IMO they will offer exactly the same service for a LOT less. JLC also actually subcontracts out simpler engravings to local artists to do, as opposed to all the way to JLC HQ in Le Sentier, then charges a middleman markup. For example, in Singapore all "standard" or "simpler" monograms are sent to Hong Kong to be done.
If you want any other non-standard font for your monogram or a flower, zodiac sign or some other non-text design engraved, JLC charges as though it is a "custom order" which means a higher price bracket. You have to provide a sample, and then wait 6-8 weeks for a quote. In the USA they sometimes refer you straight on to JC Randell (more on him later). If done through JLC, simple monogram engraving will take up to 4-6 months, custom engraving up to 12-18 months.
Enameling a gold Reverso starts at $10+k and escalates very very very quickly. Most are along the line of $20-35k, and the sky is the limit. Most people who ask for such enameling have a period of negotiation with Le Sentier as to what they want and what is actually feasible, and the to/fro takes months to complete. I am pretty sure you also get to review an actual paper draft or rendering of the enamel work before you give the final go ahead.
There is another option for custom engraving-only orders - there are a few Master engravers scattered around the world who will do the same (or better) for less. In the USA the 3d party JLC engraver to go to is JC Randell, who is a 4 hour drive away from you in Washington. IMO the custom Le Sentier engravings are nice, but not as fine as JC Randell's work - by fineness I mean complexity of engraved detail. The deeper the engraving cuts, the less fine the work can be - a JC Randell engraving feels like a freshly minted bank note, a JLC engraving feels like the surface of a vinyl record.
All Reversos with solid casebacks (and the one with the small circular 8 day power reserve window) can be engraved. This is something only you, your taste, and your budget can decide.
It's an absolutely fantastic watch, and one that I would be more than proud to own.![]()
If I were to get a Tank, it would have to be the ref. W1551551 - I think it is the platinum version of your tank, if yours is the 30x39mm one.