Visual Description
The Ref. 1720 is the mid-size Tank Américaine in 18k yellow gold, 22–23 × 41 mm and 7 mm thick. The two-body case is brushed and polished, curves along its length and has a back secured by eight screws, a sapphire-set crown and a curved sapphire crystal.
The dial is white, cream or silvered, with painted black Roman numerals, an inner minute track and the secret Cartier signature in the VII, under blued steel sword hands. The watch comes on a leather strap with an 18k yellow gold Cartier buckle or on an 18k yellow gold Cartier link bracelet with a deployant or butterfly clasp.
Reference Significance
The 1720 is the quartz model between the small Refs. 1710 and 1713 and the large Refs. 1735 and 1741. In the same metal and at about the same size, the Ref. 1725 is its automatic counterpart, with center seconds and a date at 6.
Dealers also catalog the watch as 1720/1. Analog/Shift and Amsterdam Vintage Watches have sold 18k yellow gold quartz Américaines of this size under that number, which Archiva lists as 1720-1.
Historical Context
Cartier released the Tank Américaine in 1989 as an update to the Tank Cintrée, keeping its curved front brancards, elongated dial and stretched numerals on a simpler case with a flat back.
Dated 1720s run from the 1990s to circa 2002: AWCO dates one c. 1998 and Antiquorum one circa 2002. Other catalogs give only the decade, the 1990s or the 2000s.
What to Look For
Read the number engraved on the case back, which carries the reference, and check the eight screws, the sapphire in the crown, the secret signature in the VII and the edges where the brushed and polished surfaces meet. A buckle or bracelet should be signed Cartier and in yellow gold.
Measure the width. Catalogs give it as 23 mm (Antiquorum) or 22 mm (Christie's), with a length of 41 mm, so either figure fits a 1720. A date window or an automatic movement means the Ref. 1725, which is about the same size.
