Short answer
The Cartier Tank Chinoise dates to 1922. A replica copies the case shape, the extended brancards, and the dial. It does not contain a Cartier movement or Cartier gold. In the United States, importing or selling one is illegal. CBP can seize the package and destroy it.
The genuine Tank Chinoise
Louis Cartier designed the Tank in 1917. The Chinoise followed in 1922. The name refers to Chinese portico architecture. Two horizontal bars, the brancards, sit above and below the case and extend past the sides. The case is square with rounded corners. Early examples came in yellow gold and platinum. The crown held a sapphire cabochon.
Cartier reissued the model in 2022. That run included yellow gold, rose gold, and platinum versions, plus skeleton and gem-set references. The large gold model measures about 39.5 mm by 29.2 mm. Cartier used a manual-wind caliber. Production counts from 1922 to the 1970s are not public.
What replica sellers list
Replica listings use the words first copy, AAA, and Swiss clone. The watch that arrives is not Swiss. Cases are 316L stainless steel. Gold color comes from plating, in most cases 3 to 10 microns over steel. Plating wears at the corners and at the crown.
Movements differ by price. Under 100 dollars buys quartz. 150 to 400 dollars buys a hand-wind or automatic clone, often based on the ETA 2824 or the Seagull ST21 family. Gem-set replicas use cubic zirconia, glass, or low-grade corundum. Cartier uses sapphire.
- Case metal: steel with plating, not solid gold
- Brancards: cast and polished, edges heavier than the original
- Dial: printed in one pass, so the minute track sits thick
- Movement: no Cartier caliber number
- Hallmarks: absent or stamped wrong
Prices run from about 80 dollars to 500 dollars. Sellers do not publish plating thickness or movement grades. The listed grade carries no standard.
Legal status in the US
18 U.S.C. 2320 makes trafficking in counterfeit goods a federal crime. Penalties include fines and up to 10 years in prison for a first offense. CBP seizes counterfeit watches at the border. The personal exemption for one item of foreign goods does not cover counterfeits. Selling a replica as a genuine Cartier is fraud.
How to tell a replica from a genuine watch
- Weigh the watch. Solid gold weighs more than plated steel of the same size.
- Look at the brancard ends. Genuine bars are set and finished by hand.
- Read the dial text. Cartier prints its name and Swiss Made with tight spacing.
- Open the caseback. A Cartier caliber carries a number and finishing.
- Check the papers. Cartier supplies a numbered certificate.
Points that stay unclear
Cartier does not publish reference numbers for every Chinoise variant. Plating thickness on replicas is measured by sellers, not by a lab. No public data set compares replica case dimensions to the 1922 originals.