Santos de Cartier

The Santos traces back to 1904, when Louis Cartier built a flat, square-cased watch for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont so he could read the time without letting go of the controls. It is the shape the modern Santos still keeps, here in the medium steel model on a bracelet.

Design

A square case with rounded angles, horns that curve straight into the bracelet, and exposed screws set across the bezel — the details carried over from the 1904 original.

Case and dial

• Steel case, 35.1 mm across and 41.9 mm lug to lug
• 8.83 mm thick, flat enough to sit under a cuff
• Silvered opaline dial with blue sword-shaped hands
• Square sapphire crystal
• Seven-sided crown set with a faceted synthetic spinel
• Water resistant to 100 metres

Movement

• Cartier calibre 1847 MC, automatic winding
• Roughly 42 hours of power reserve
• Manufacture mechanical movement, made in-house

Bracelet and strap

• SmartLink — the steel bracelet shortens or lengthens by hand, with no tools and no trip to a watchmaker
• QuickSwitch — the bracelet releases from the case in one movement
• A calfskin strap with an interchangeable steel folding buckle is supplied alongside it

Box and papers

Complete, and sold new.