Must de Cartier Tank Amsterdam Boutique Edition: The Rarest Of Them All?

Some watches are so rare that even experienced collectors, dealers, and people at the brand themselves haven’t seen one in the metal. Such a watch is the Must de Cartier Tank Amsterdam Boutique Edition. The story behind this watch is also interesting and begins in the year 2000, Cartier moved their boutique in Amsterdam to its, now already previous location at the PC Hooftstraat. A stone’s throw away from the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum, it holds an essential place at what is one of the most important luxury shopping areas in the Dutch capital. To mark this occasion, Cartier made 100 pieces of this Tank Must. For a brand with the scale of Cartier, this is quite limited. As it is a Tank Must, it was priced very competitively compared to the rest of the collection. Additionally, Cartier also went all-in in making this Must de Cartier Tank into something exceptional.

What usually is a rectangular railroad track is now replaced with one shaped like a crest. In the middle, we find three subtle so-called Saint Andrew’s crosses placed above each other, forming the coat of arms of the city of Amsterdam. Quite a unique feature in a Cartier, in particular, because the Roman numerals follow the shape of the railroad track, making the ones below more stretched. The “Must de Cartier” name is elegantly tucked away at the six o’clock position, while Cartier maintained the date at three o’clock.

Like all other Tank Must is also the size of this one relatively modest, measuring 25 x 33mm. Nothing to be worried about, as it easily compensates with a generous dose of character. An added advantage of this size is that you can still see a decent amount of the strap, as it doesn’t cover the whole top of your wrist. This most certainly adds to its timeless appeal. The case is made of Sterling silver, with its back secured by no less than eight (!!) screws.

Here we also see that Cartier even made the effort to number all the watches individually. Most brands, Cartier on occasion as well, cut corners and mark limited editions with the mere words “One of …..” While individually numbering watches is a hassle for brands, as well as an extra cost, and they have to deal with people wanting a specific number or avoiding numbers like 13, but in the end, it is an essential part of exclusivity.

Unfortunately, the watch in these pictures is already sold by WatchWorks Haarlem, and given its rarity it is unfortunately unlikely that more pop up anytime soon.