Cartier’s Legendary Santos Collection Soars On

The legendary Cartier Santos watch was born out of a friendship between Louis Cartier and Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont. Cartier, who was the third-generation owner of his family’s maison and its chief timepiece designer, met Santos-Dumont, an heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, through mutual friends. At that time, Paris was at the height of the Belle Époque, bursting with creativity, innovation and technical advancement. Just after the turn of the century, the first French motion pictures and automobiles appeared, heralding a new modern era for the French capital.

Cartier and Santos-Dumont’s social circle included novelist Jules Verne and acclaimed architect Gustave Eiffel, whose new tower was the tallest structure in Paris. Louis Cartier was making great strides in improving mechanical watchmaking, while his new friend — who was not just a pilot but a designer and builder of aircrafts — was an inventor in his own right.

Santos-Dumont provided Cartier with a catalyst for a new timekeeping invention. All watches were pocket watches in the early 1900s, and Santos-Dumont expressed his frustration to Cartier about having to pull his watch out of his pocket to check the time while in flight. Santos-Dumont needed both hands to safely and successfully fly his new machines, and taking a hand off the controls to get his watch presented a risk. Accurate timing is essential to navigating an airplane safely, and having a watch that could be read at a glance would be invaluable for Santos-Dumont. Cartier set out to find a solution, and in 1904 presented his friend with a watch that he could strap to his wrist.

The new robust timepiece was square in shape, with a thick bezel affixed with visible screws. Cartier fitted the watch with a leather strap that secured it firmly to the aviator’s wrist. Large Roman numerals on the watch’s dial made for easy readability, and its sturdy case provided durable protection for the hand wound movement, which in turn provided reliable and stable timekeeping. With this watch made for his friend, Cartier had invented the first modern watch designed to be worn on the wrist. It marked a significant milestone in the evolution of modern timekeeping. Little did Louis Cartier know that he had just created an icon.

Santos-Dumont drew large crowds to his aviation demonstrations, which ranged from hovering over the ground in hot-air balloons to flying his aircraft around the Eiffel Tower. At the time, he was internationally renowned as one of the world’s leading aviators and had designed several airships. Pictures of Santos-Dumont wearing his new Cartier watch appeared in newspapers across Europe and the timepiece drew international attention.

The original watch that Cartier made for his friend was intended to be a one-off, a special flight tool to aid Santos-Dumont’s navigation. In time, Cartier responded to a growing public demand by creating a series of similar watches for his eager new customers. The watch’s unique design became an unlikely, yet emblematic pillar of the Cartier brand.

From a watch that was born out of necessity, the Santos collection has evolved, with dozens of iterations introduced over the years. Currently, the collection offers a range of styles crafted of precious metals as well as steel. Skeletonized Santos watches are a firm favorite of collectors and connoisseurs, with their clear view of the watch’s carved and expertly finished movement. Chronographs and dual time functions are also available in a variety of metals and sizes.

This year, Cartier introduced the Santos Small Model featuring the same aesthetic codes as its legendary predecessor. The new watches offer a smaller case size measuring 27 x 35.5 millimeters and a convenient quartz movement that has been adapted to fit its smaller size. The new watches are available in all gold and all steel versions, as well as gold and steel. All are available with the choice of either a metal bracelet or leather strap.

The new Santos Small Model seems poised to take off, just like the first Santos was more than a century ago.