Here is something worth knowing about the W5200024 before you buy anything for it.
Cartier's own description reads "case in 18K pink gold and steel". The gold is the bezel and the beaded crown; the case underneath is steel. On a watch measuring 31 × 24.4 mm, that gold bezel is a very thin ring — a few square millimetres of precious metal on a very small watch.
Which means the strap you fit, and specifically the buckle you choose with it, changes how much gold is on your wrist more than anything else you can do to this reference. A rose gold buckle is physically a larger piece of gold than the bezel is.
The rest of the watch: a light silvered opaline dial with Roman numerals and blued-steel sword hands, a synthetic cabochon-shaped spinel in the crown, sapphire crystal, quartz, 5.55 mm thin. Cartier sells it on brown alligator with an ardillon buckle in 18K pink gold.
Lug Width: order 18 mm for the W5200024
On the product page, select the 18 mm option.
The Tank Solo small has an unusual lug gap — roughly 17.5 mm, a half-size Cartier never advertises and no strap range stocks. An 18 mm strap is the correct order: it seats snugly, compresses very slightly at the lugs and leaves no visible daylight. A 17 mm slides in easily and then shows a gap on both sides, which on a case this small is the first thing anyone notices.
Independent strap makers agree — one states plainly that the Solo small takes 18 mm against its 17.5 mm lug spacing, and another cuts bespoke Tank straps at 17.5 mm precisely because the size exists and nobody stocks it.
The Solo ladder is not the Tank Must ladder
| Tank Solo | Strap |
|---|---|
| Small (W5200024) | 18 mm (17.5 mm lug gap) |
| Large | 20 mm |
| Extra-Large | 22 mm |
The Tank Must and Tank Louis run 16 / 19 / 23 mm. Same silhouette, different case, different numbers — do not carry a size across from another Tank.
Choose the rose gold buckle
This is the decision that matters most here, and it is the one most people make by accident.
The factory buckle is an 18K pink gold ardillon. On a two-tone watch where the gold amounts to a bezel and a crown, the buckle is not a detail — it is the second-largest gold element on the piece, and it sits in plain view beside the case on your wrist and in every photograph.
Order the rose gold buckle. Silver turns the watch back into a steel Tank with a warm bezel, and gold sits close enough to rose that a yellow-gold buckle reads as a mismatch rather than a mix.
Fitting is standard spring bars — a spring bar tool or our installation tool is all it takes.
One honest note about material
Cartier fits this reference with alligator. Because the correct order is 18 mm and our Tank crocodile straps are cut only in 14, 15, 16 and 17 mm, exotic is not available on the Solo small — the half-millimetre pushes it out of range.
Smooth leather is what the picks below are, and on a case 5.55 mm thick it is arguably the better answer anyway: thin, flat, and no bulk at the lugs.
What the strap has to do on a two-tone watch
A small two-tone Tank is a balancing act. There is a warm gold ring, a cool steel case, blued hands, and a silvered dial — and the strap is the largest single surface in the composition.
Warm straps make the gold count. Brown and tan connect to the bezel, so the gold appears twice on the wrist instead of once, and the two-tone reads as deliberate. This is what Cartier chose.
Dark straps make the gold bright. Black gives maximum contrast, so the thin gold ring becomes the only warm point in a cool picture and reads sharper than it does against brown.
Cool straps side with the steel. Blue pulls the watch towards its steel half and lets the gold sit quietly as an accent — the most discreet way to own a two-tone.
None of them is wrong. But choosing without noticing there were two metals is how a two-tone ends up looking accidental.
The four best straps for the W5200024
1. Brown leather — the factory recipe
Brown Leather Strap for Cartier Tank
Cartier fits this watch on brown for a reason: warm brown and pink gold share a temperature, so the bezel stops being a lone flash of colour and becomes part of a warm scheme. Paired with the rose gold buckle it puts the reference back exactly where it started — and on a case this small that coherence matters more than it would on a big watch.
If you replace the original with one strap, replace it with this.
2. Black leather — the gold at its brightest
Black Leather Strap for Cartier Tank
Maximum contrast, and the strap that makes the thin gold bezel work hardest. Against black, the rose gold reads brighter and the silvered dial reads cleaner — the whole watch sharpens, and the Roman numerals and blued hands become easier to see on a small dial.
It is also the most formal option here, and the safest if the watch has to work everywhere.
3. Blue leather — the discreet two-tone
Blue Leather Strap for Cartier Tank
The hands are blued steel and the cabochon in the crown is blue, so blue is already on the watch twice. A blue strap pulls the piece towards its cool half and leaves the gold as a quiet accent rather than the headline — the choice for someone who wanted a two-tone without wanting it noticed. Genuinely modern, and the least conventional of the four.
4. White leather — for summer, and for the dial
White Leather Strap for Cartier Tank
The dial is a light silvered opaline, and white continues that lightness down the wrist so the pink gold becomes the only tone with any warmth in the picture. On a 24.4 mm case it stays elegant rather than sporty, and it is the biggest seasonal change available to this reference. Order it with the rose gold buckle and it looks considered rather than casual.
Every colour and width is in the Cartier Tank, Tank Louis, Américaine, Solo and Must strap collection.
Fit, in one line
Order 18 mm with the rose gold buckle — not 17, despite the 17.5 mm gap — and fit it with standard spring bars.
More Cartier strap guides
- Cartier Tank Solo WSTA0028 Strap Guide — the large Solo, which takes 20 mm
- Cartier Tank Must WSTA0041 Strap Guide — a different ladder at 19 mm
- All Cartier strap guides
The strap is the only part that wears out
The Tank Solo has no bracelet. The strap is how the watch was designed to be worn and the only component that will ever need replacing — and on a two-tone case, a tired brown strap takes the gold down with it.
Helvetus straps are cut for the Tank case in every width from 14 mm to 25 mm, slim enough for a 5.55 mm case, and shaped to follow the contour.
More than 50,000 customers worldwide, free shipping and free returns, and no import costs on any order, anywhere. Leather straps are covered for one year; our rubber straps carry a lifetime warranty.
