Tank vs Reverso vs DolceVita vs SÖNER Amorous: Who Wins?

These are the rectangular watches most buyers end up comparing. The Cartier Tank has been in production in one form or another since 1919. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso since 1931. The Longines DolceVita since 1997. Between them they cover nearly every position in the rectangular watch market: design philosophy, movement type, proportion and price.

This edition adds a fourth watch, the SÖNER Amorous Brutus. Full disclosure: SÖNER is the brand that publishes this blog, and the Amorous is our automatic collection. We added it because readers asked how it compares, and because it fills a gap the other three leave open: a Swiss automatic rectangular watch well below the price of the established houses. We have tried to judge it by the same standard as the others, including where it falls short. For the wider picture, see the Full Guide to Rectangular Watches.

Above: Cartier Tank Must, JLC Reverso Classic and Longines DolceVita, the three established rectangular watches in this comparison

At a Glance

Prices are approximate list prices at the time of writing and vary by market, strap and metal. The Tank is the slimmest and most compact case here. The DolceVita is the longest and thickest. The Amorous is the only one rated to 50 m.

Design Heritage

The Tank is the origin point. Louis Cartier's 1917 design established the visual language that almost every rectangular watch since has either referenced or consciously departed from: the parallel brancards, the Roman numerals, the sword hands, the cabochon crown.

The Reverso arrived in 1931 with a different logic. Where the Tank is about surface, the Reverso is about mechanism. The reversible case was a solution to a specific problem, polo players needing to protect the crystal during a match, and the elegance of that solution is what the Reverso has traded on ever since.

The DolceVita arrived in 1997 with no particular mechanical ambition. Longines designed it to bring the elongated rectangular dress watch to a broader audience at a more accessible Swiss price. Its contribution is proportion rather than invention.

The Amorous is the youngest by far, and it has no century of history to lean on. What it has is focus: SÖNER makes only rectangular watches, and the Brutus borrows openly from the vocabulary the other three established, with Roman numerals, a guilloché centre and blued hands, set in a 40 x 28 mm Art Deco case. It is a contemporary reading of the category, not a founding document of it.

Proportion and Wrist Presence

The four cases cover a wide range of sizes, so the numbers are the most useful guide.

The Tank Must small model measures 29.5 x 22 mm and 6.6 mm thick. It is the most compact case here and the one that slips most easily under a shirt cuff.

The Reverso Classic Medium Thin measures 40.1 x 24.4 mm and 7.56 mm thick. It is narrow but long, so it covers more of the wrist vertically than its width suggests.

The DolceVita measures 47 x 28.2 mm and 10.3 mm thick. It is the longest case in the comparison and the most present on the wrist.

The Amorous measures 40 x 28 mm and 10 mm thick. It sits between the Reverso and the DolceVita in length, close to the DolceVita in width, and is slightly thinner than the DolceVita despite also housing an automatic movement.

Movement

The Tank Must runs on quartz. That is what makes 6.6 mm achievable, and the Tank's identity has never been primarily about what moves inside it. It is a design object first.

The Reverso Classic Medium Thin uses the JLC 822A/2, a hand-wound manufacture calibre. For people who enjoy winding a watch each morning, that is part of the appeal. For people who want a watch that runs itself, it is a real limitation.

The DolceVita uses the Longines L592 automatic, which winds itself from the motion of the wrist with a power reserve of about 40 hours.

The Amorous uses the Swiss Sellita SW100A automatic in Elaboré grade: 28,800 vph, a 42-hour power reserve, rated to ±10 seconds a day, with a date and central seconds. It is a proven Swiss workhorse rather than an in-house calibre, which matters to some collectors and not at all to others.

Dial Character

The Tank dial is the most resolved of the four. The Roman numerals, sword hands and cabochon crown form a composition that has barely needed to change in over a century.

The Reverso offers some of the finest dial work available at any price, and the reversible case adds a second face to engrave or personalise.

The DolceVita dial is the most straightforward: a clean surface with numerals and hands that are well executed without being remarkable. The proportion and movement are the reasons to buy it.

The Amorous Brutus takes the classic route, with a silver dial, a guilloché centre, Roman numerals and blued hands. It is the only watch in this group that adds a date window, which is useful every day but is a matter of taste on a dress dial.

Value

At about $3,300, the Tank Must charges for its name and its design: more than a century of production and the most recognised rectangular silhouette in the world, with a quartz movement inside.

The Reverso is the most expensive watch here, at about $7,000 when last sold new; this reference has since left the current collection, so most buyers now find it pre-owned. The manufacture movement, the dial work and the reversible case justify that for people who value those things. For everyone else, the premium is harder to justify.

The DolceVita at about $2,000 was the value pick among the established houses: Swiss automatic, sapphire crystal and a well-known name.

The Amorous Brutus at $895 offers a Swiss automatic movement, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, 50 m water resistance and a 10-year warranty at less than half the price of the DolceVita. What it does not offer is the brand recognition or resale value of Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre or Longines. The rest of the Amorous collection starts at $785.

The SÖNER Amorous Vienna, from the same automatic collection: see all Amorous watches

Final Scorecard

The Verdict

No single watch wins every category, which is why all of them sell. The right choice depends on which categories matter most to you.

Buy the Cartier Tank Must if the design heritage matters as much as the watch itself and you want the slimmest, most compact case. Accept the quartz movement and the price as the cost of owning the original.

Buy the JLC Reverso Classic if you want the finest dial work and the most mechanical interest, and you enjoy winding a watch. Accept the highest price in the group.

Buy the Longines DolceVita if you want a Swiss automatic with a heritage name at the lowest price among the established houses, and you like a long case.

Buy the SÖNER Amorous Brutus if you want a Swiss automatic rectangular watch with classic Roman numerals and guilloché, rated to 50 m, at under $1,000. Accept a young brand without the history or resale value of the others.

The SÖNER Amorous Brutus: see the watch or the full Amorous collection