Reply With QuoteDunno about the watch but lovely Ladderax action in the background!
As I cant see any discussion about this (apart from my own), I thought of starting a thread. Im a bit fed up with Cartier as the launch was September hen pushed back to today they've just told me it will be 'at least January 2022'.
Im wondering whether to just not bother now. I think the technology is clever and I like Tanks so maybe I'll just get a less eco-friendly version.
Just in case anyone has no idea what Im on about...
https://www.my-watchsite.com/blog/ca...-must-have-it/
Last edited by Scrubnut; 1st November 2021 at 17:43. Reason: Bonkers videp
Dunno about the watch but lovely Ladderax action in the background!
I’ve been following this one with interest, and noted the repeated delays in launching. Colour me suspicious…
It strikes me that there is nothing radical or exciting about a solar powered watch nowadays.
What might be clever is the claimed 16 year battery life.
If Cartier can do that then that will be quite an achievement compared to the best that Citizen, Casio (and less so) Seiko can do with Panasonic batteries. These three companies claim long battery lives but in truth we know that the rechargeable batteries wear out surprisingly quickly, although Citizen and Casio seem to get longer out of the same Panasonic batteries than Seiko do.
If... it's a big if, isn't it. Has Cartier really invented a rechargeable battery with a reliable 16 year lifespan? We'll see. Time will tell. But if they haven't been able to test their new tech for 16 full years then they're guessing, or extrapolating from tests.
A lot of good points Mark. As predicted, I got fed up of waiting tonight after months of disappointment! I’ve just been and bought me and the Mrs an automatic, rectangular, and to my mind as attractive a watch from elsewhere……for the same price.
I was always taught to underpromise and over deliver . Not the other way round
Cartier seem to be innovating quite a bit in recent years.
Love what they've done with the Santos line. Especially the tool-less bracelet sizing tech and quick change straps, miles ahead of most other brands in that regard.
I read it as the battery has a usable lifespan of 16years, ie after 16years of recharging/discharging the cell will need to be replaced, not once charged it will run the watch for 16 years.
Originally Posted by markrlondon
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
For the avoidance of doubt, that is my understanding too. My comments were in this context.
The Panasonic rechargeable batteries used by Citizen, Casio, Seiko (and others) don't last all that long in terms of charge/recharge cycles before they stop holding a worthwhile charge. It varies (and, as I said, some manufacturers seem to do better with them than others) but they often need replacing after 3-5 years in my experience. This is better than the earlier generation of capacitors that often failed much sooner but it's still a far cry from a 16 year operational lifespan.
The cleverest element of this is the way the numerals are apertures for the solar charge, rendering the solar panel effectively invisible while the dial remains indistinguishable from a standard Tank.
I reserve judgement on the Greta Funless strap supposedly made from apples. I’d be ready to have that off and a slice of old fashioned cow on immediately.
^^^ Hehe
I have a few solar/atomic Casio’s coming up to 10 years old and I don’t see any reduction in the charge their batteries are holding. All show H for high all year round and tbh I don’t expect them to start having any issues for a good few years yet. And they have all kinds of complications, backlights and radio receivers inside. Has Cartier gone back to the future as it doesn’t seem all that innovative to me?
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Well, thats not going to work in Scotland.
Does anything?
Yes with the amount of rain at least a 50m water resist capability is required!!
16 years is a long time. After 48 hours under a cuff or not in sunlight, it stops.
As mentioned above, the clever bit is the dial design which lets the light through the numerals without any obvious solar panel.
everything you need to know about apple leather is here https://olivercompanylondon.com/pages/apple-leather
Last edited by Scrubnut; 2nd November 2021 at 15:33.
Yep, and on the one bright day of the year it'll be suns out tanks out rather than suns out guns out. I can imagine the scenes in Glesga.
Yeah I’ve been waiting on the Solarbeat. September sailed by a no news from Cartier. I see that Mappin and Webb have started advertising the small model but not the large.
To keep me going I bought the new Tank Must in red and blue today :)
Is the Small aimed at the female market? I might pick up one for my wife
The Tank Must Small wears quite large on the bracelet, I thought about getting one. The Large (25.5mm width) wears very large on the bracelet as it doesn’t taper, unlike the leather straps.
We haven't seen a picture of the module yet. I wonder why.
THIN is the new BLACK
I wonder if it says "Citizen" or even "Casio" on it. ;-)
Or Seiko.
Where do you get that from? I have solar Casio's that are over 20 years old and are just fine with loads of capacity left. I have never had a solar Casio (or Citizen for that matter) fail on me whilst in my possession (and I own a lot). I just keep them exposed to light all the time or expose them regularly before their charge level drops below 'medium'.
I have bought second hand Casio's with failed batteries but that is almost certainly because they have been allowed to discharge completely and then be left in that state for quite a while. This does mean that the chances of that battery failing rises quite sharply, many do recover though.
Mitch
Direct, personal experience. I have and have had a number of Citizen, Casio and Seiko solar watches.
That is my procedure too. I expose my solar watches to light every month or so.
As such, I have had a number of battery failures within far less time than 16 years.
YMMV. Clearly it does. :-)
I agree that allowing a solar watch to run down entirely massively increases the chances of its battery never fully recovering but, even without that, they are not uniformly reliable over the longer time in my experience.
I was thinking of doing the same but I bought his n hers Longines last week as I got fed up of waiting
There's your problem. They need better feeding than just once a month. I have solars over 10 years old and a Citizen which is at least 15. They all live on a North facing windowsill and are kept permanently topped up.
Also, the manufacturers would assume you wear a watch daily, not once a month, and therefore would naturally expose it to light during the day.
Citizen got that working some 10 yrs. ago...
I have replaced a number of Panasonic rechargeable batteries in Seiko Kinetics. They usually (just my experience) fail after approx. 10 yrs.
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