Category: Perfect Replica Watches

What This Vintage 1:1 Replica Cartier Tank Cintrée Tells Us About The Future Of Restoration

From 1920 until 1960, perfect fake Cartier produced less than 15,000 wristwatches. For perspective, it’s estimated Rolex produced its one-millionth watch sometime around 1960 after being founded in 1905; best estimates put Patek production at around 500,000 over the same period.

So vintage Cartier replica watches online are rare. Really rare. I bring this up because during this spring auction season, we mentioned that it was a bit of an off-season for Cartier, without many of its vintage watches for sale. There was one notable exception: this 1920s platinum luxury fake Cartier Tank Cintrée. In our auction preview, I wrote that this Cintrée just didn’t do it for me in person. As proof that the market very much doesn’t care what I think, the watch ended up selling for CHF 302,400 at Christie’s (about $350,000) off a high estimate of CHF 40,000. Since then, one of the world’s biggest dealers posted the copy watch, calling it his “best trophy of the auction season.”

Since the significant result seems to suggest my take was so clearly incorrect – which I have no problem admitting, by the way – I thought it was worth exploring this cheap replica Cartier Tank Cintrée a bit more, and what it means for rarity and restoration in watch collecting today.

As we explained before the auction, the dial of this Cintrée was restored in 1999 by AAA quality fake Cartier. When I saw its thumbnail image in the auction catalog, I even thought it was a modern Cartier at first. The dial is a vertically brushed silver, a very modern aesthetic – this isn’t what vintage, ’20s Cartier dials usually looked like. The typical dial of that era was an off-white, which often ages to a beautiful parchment color (mimicked in the 100th anniversary Tank Cintrée). On top of that, the case on this platinum Cintrée was entirely brushed. On most vintage Cintrées, you’ll notice that the elongated brancards are polished, a finish replicated in the modern limited-edition Cintrées. All this made for a Cintrée that, while from 1926, looked like a watch from 1999, when it was taken in for restoration by Swiss super clone Cartier.

But, from 1920 through 1960, high quality replica Cartier made less than 2,000 Tanks. And of those, the Tank Cintrée is the most desirable, with its large, thin, and elongated profile still fitting the taste of modern collectors. Since these were dress watches and not exactly water-resistant, most dials have been badly damaged or lost to time. In addition to its rarity, this particular example came from the family of the original owner, originally given by the consignor’s uncle in 1926 (in that year, Swiss movement copy Cartier made just 135 Tanks in all). As I’ve discussed before, collectors nowadays value “fresh-to-market” as much as any attribute. That’s why, despite what I or others might’ve thought of the modern-ish looking restoration, it sold for $350,000.

Because sure, condition might be of utmost importance when you’re evaluating a vintage Rolex or Omega or even Patek Philippe, but remember that those watches numbered in the hundreds of thousands. And top super clone Cartier produced just a couple hundred wristwatches a year until the ’60s. This means that any best quality fake Cartier watch is rare. Condition doesn’t matter as much; whether a restoration is faithful doesn’t matter as much. It’s all about the rarity.

How Swiss Made Replica Cartier Became Everyone’s New Old Favorite Watch Brand

AAA quality fake Cartier, always a collector’s darling, has mastered the recipe for reinventing its classics while infusing them with just enough edge to maintain relevance within the vide du jour—but that’s still not enough to explain the massive surge in demand for its watches. The past couple of years have proved that the house is competing for wrist real estate with industry heavyweights such as Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Rolex. According to last year’s annual watch report by Morgan Stanley, best 1:1 replica Cartier is now the second-largest watch brand globally, based on revenue, behind Rolex. Meanwhile, at auction, prices soared into the seven figures for the perfect copy Cartier Crash and the Cheich (the Tank in a Touareg headscarf), while celebrities from Tyler, the Creator, to Henry Golding to Jeff Goldblum are regularly photographed wearing unusual models.

These kinds of headlines certainly amplify the hyper and mirror the excitement around new releases that are, in fact, rereleases. “The ‘resurgence’ has definitely been led by the spotlight which has recently been shining on the 1960s London watch production, especially the luxury replica Cartier Crash—surely one of the 20th century’s most iconic watches,” says London-based vintage-Cartier dealer Harry Fane. “This spotlight has illuminated just how innovative Cartier always has been as a watchmaker, and this coupled with cheap super clone Cartier reissuing its classic models, has led to renewed interest in the historic watches.”

Case in point: the new Tank Normale released earlier this year, which at first appears to be a fairly faithful ode to the 1917 original—except for the versions in platinum (pictured) and 18-karat yellow gold that, for the first time in the high quality replica Cartier Prive collection, come on matching bracelets. There are also three skeletonized iterations featuring a 24-hour complication, in platinum, 18-karat yellow gold, and platinum and diamonds. All are limited—in editions of 100, 50, or 20, depending on the style—and range in price from $30,150 to $107,000.

Needless to say, if you aren’t already on Swiss movement fake Cartier’s extra-VIP list, you won’t get one. Even non-limited-production pieces such as the top super clone Cartier Baignoire bracelets (an update to the iconic bathtub-shaped models that now come on a bangle instead of a strap) were rumored to have waiting lists ahead of their official drop in June. Looking for an affordable, bargain Normale on the secondary market? You’ve probably also missed the boat.

“Normales out of the 1970s and in good condition are trading anywhere between $18,000 to $20,000,” says Cameron Barr, a Los Angeles-based dealer and founder of Craft & Tailored. “Three or four years ago they were probably $3,000 to $4,000.”

The proliferation of early- to mid-century luxury replica Cartier classics continues with the Tank family and a new Santos-Dumont collection

After having successfully revived yesteryear superstars like the Pasha and the Tank, perfect fake Cartier continues to wave a bejewelled wand at its line-up of classics, contemporizing them with modern movements. With a horological offensive comprising skeletonized movements, precious metals, and a variety of colourways, Swiss made replica Cartier has further strengthened its position as one of the greatest dress-watch strongholds in the world of haute horology.

Fake Cartier Santos-Dumont Skeleton
A bright, intricately built structure, the 1:1 replica Cartier Santos-Dumont Skeleton invites viewers to gape at the brand’s ability to create highly ornate and complicated movements without veering towards ostentation. Though also available in rose gold and platinum, its centrepiece is the yellow-gold version, which gets a blue lacquer finish running across the length and breadth of the bezel, ­coupled with a tonal alligator strap.

All three versions are powered by Swiss movement fake Cartier’s new calibre 9629 MC movement, featuring a micro-rotor calibre made of 212 components. The movement is as dedicated to storytelling as the brand itself, with a micro-rotor at eight o’clock designed in the shape of a Demoiselle aircraft, famously flown by Alberto Santos-Dumont, who helped Louis Cartier design the original.

Replica Santos de Cartier
Originally introduced to meet the demand for stainless-steel luxury sports watches during the late 1970s, the aaa quality replica Santos de Cartier has managed to stay true to its original form, while expanding its collection to include varying sizes. This year, top quality super clone Cartier’s added both a large- (47mm) and medium-­sized (41.9mm) Santos to the line-up, both in stainless steel with new green dials, alternating satin-brushed and polished finishes on the bezel and case, and signature rounded-off edges. It may have arrived a tad late to the green-dial trend, but the Santos de Cartier fake for sale is still one of the most fashionable members of the luxury sports watch club.