Cartier Tank Must AF printing problems

[someeone]

I've been looking for a Tank Must large for awhile now after drowning one last summer.

3 months ago I've reached out to my go-to TD and had to RL two of them due to bad printing on the dial. I thought it's not a big deal - just unlucky. Purchased a different watch and moved on.

Now I've wanted to get one again - same issue. Had to RL two of them and this time went for a refund.

I am really not that picky normally, but look at this:

This was the "best" of all 4:

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Both on this image are AF, on the bottom is example shown in comparison thread here on the forum, top one is the same dial from above
[url=https://clickpix.org/image/KysUW2]

Here's a replacement that I was offered:

[url=https://clickpix.org/image/photo-2024-03-27-13.20.54.KysquY]


Has anyone purchased a good looking AF tank recently or they are all not as good as they used to be a year or two back?

 

[nettmann]

I can't say anything about AF tank. But I bought a K11F and the print is looking very good. I can recommend this version.

 

[nettmann]

Here is a QS image of K11F

 

[someeone]

K11F is a decent alternative option, fair enough.

I just want to raise awarness that, at least in my experience, AF had serious printing issues recently, while being regarded as NWBIG pretty much everywhere.

..and raise awarness that I am looking for a Tank to purchase

 

[thisisallen]

I wouldn’t get too overshadowed by this. I have a AF Tank Solo. When it’s on my wrist it’s so small I don’t really notice any flaws. If I start staring at it then I start thinking the dial is not straight, or it could be the effect of the Roman numerals and the different spacing in between them, or the printing is off, etc. So I just enjoy wearing it and try not to think too much.

 

[Kerbus]

If I stare at my gen Santos long enough I’m bound to find flaws too. There’s a fine line between being discerning about them and just insanity

 

[someeone]

My intention with opening this thread was to document a real experience

I am normally not picky when it comes to allignments/prints/etc, especially when it comes to reps, however, this is a well known and popular model that actually DID come with significantly better print quality. I mean, I had one myself and it was crisp and without any of the obvious flaws as with ink literally spilling into a whole letter or font being so muddy that it could as well be a DHgate piece for 50 USD.

If it's just my luck or my TD getting these bad examples - that's one thing.
If AF is not being able to print a dial that they used to be able to last year - it's probably something interesting to note at least.

Maybe images I've selected are not illustrating my point well enough, but to me it just pops when look at them - and I've received several sets of those and all of them are worse than what I literally had in hand from the same factory.

 

[mhrboy]

Even gen has dial printing issues, look at Steve comparison:

Tankmust (medium) WSTA0041, comprehensive comparison of Gen, AF and K11

Hello, guys. I'm Steve and I'm back. We've been working on male models comparisons for a while now, until recently I realized that we hadn't done any female comparisons, so here it is. Although there are only two factories producing tanks, AF and K11, and most friends are familiar with the best...

forum.replica-watch.info

 

[NathanLFW]

K11F is a decent alternative option, fair enough.

I just want to raise awarness that, at least in my experience, AF had serious printing issues recently, while being regarded as NWBIG pretty much everywhere.

..and raise awarness that I am looking for a Tank to purchase

I'm curious! If K11F is just "decent," which factory do you consider to be better or the best, in your opinion? I've been debating between AF and K11F myself, and I've been hearing too many unsatisfied comments about AF lately.

 

[mhrboy]

Received mine from AF
Dial printing is good enough, little font variation vs gen (top) but acceptable

 

[rockdaytona]

How does this QC look in terms of dial print? AF tank is gold, Gen is SS

 

[JMM17]

Just GL mine QC from AF, think it looks great - batch from march. Looking hard, i found just one flaw at IX, but would be crazy to be bothered by it. I think the printing is really good.

 

[Reaps]

Just GL mine QC from AF, think it looks great - batch from march. Looking hard, i found just one flaw at IX, but would be crazy to be bothered by it. I think the printing is really good.

Good attitude. Remeber if you have to zoom it in to the point it's a blurry resolution and circle it it won't be an issue on wrist.

 

[amrx365]

Just GL mine QC from AF, think it looks great - batch from march. Looking hard, i found just one flaw at IX, but would be crazy to be bothered by it. I think the printing is really good.

How did you get a batch from march ? I just received my QC today and i refused it bcs the crown was off. AF mixes all the batches right now. They do anything.

 

[amrx365]

Just GL mine QC from AF, think it looks great - batch from march. Looking hard, i found just one flaw at IX, but would be crazy to be bothered by it. I think the printing is really good.

Look at the « swiss made » on the clasp, on this batch, the « i » is missing i think

 

[JMM17]

Indeed, it's SWSS MADE on the clasp.