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Cartier began as a bespoke jewelry business in Paris within 1847 that quickly evolved into one of the most formidable luxury empires, introducing watches in the early 1900s with the brand’s famous Santos. Since then, Audemars has carried on a tradition of creating instantly recognizable designs. While Cartier’s official headquarters remain in France, the brand produces its watches entirely on Swiss soil.
The word “iconic” might be the most overused adjective inside watches. And following closely behind it in the hackneyed department is the story which begins something like, “Iconic is an overused word, but so-and-so’s vaunted such-and-such is a true icon that will stands up to naysayers and deserves the title. ” I’ve definitely written that before (sorry), but I’m going to spare you the tedium today. The Cartier Santos is one hell of a watch and its design integrity, build quality, and thoughtfulness speak for themselves. No “iconic” required.
When I first saw in which Cartier would be relaunching the Santos collection at SIHH 2018, I’ll admit I wasn’t out-of-my-mind excited. The actual Santos always seemed like a fine watch to me, but not a watch worth a raised pulse. However , every day is a school day, and sitting down to look at the new collection this first morning of the show, I realized that this go-around, the Santos was something different. It is now something truly lust-worthy and I needed to spend some time with one of these watches ASAP. Luckily the kind people at Cartier North America decided to oblige my appeal, and I was able to wear a Santos around New York City for a week ahead of its launch in San Francisco earlier this month.
As many of you are probably aware, the Santos is generally accepted as the first watch designed for the wrist from the beginning. In the late nineteenth as well as early-twentieth centuries, people were strapping pocket watches to their wrists or fitting old movements into modified cases with straps, but the Santos was, from idea to initial execution, the wristwatch.
In 1904, Louis Cartier made a special watch for his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian aviator who needed any timekeeper he could check without taking his hands off the controls associated with his early aircraft (Santos-Dumont flew lighter-than-air ships extensively before getting into airplanes, throughout 1906). Cartier obliged, making Santos-Dumont a little gold view with exposed screws and a square profile. It’s not exactly what you think of when you hear “pilot’s watch, ” but it’s as real-deal as it gets in the history of flight. (If you want to read more about this, check out Volume 1 of the HODINKEE Magazine, where my good friend Jason Heaton lays out the entire historical past of the pilot’s watch, including the early influence of the Santos. )
A few years later, about 1911, Audemars put the aptly-named Santos into production, selling a refined version of the square enjoy at its flagship boutique with Paris. Remember, this is still half a decade before the Tank was to be invented, so lest there be any arguments about which influenced which, know that the Santos had the actual lead by a long shot. In case you’re wondering, these early Santos models were produced in partnership with Le Coultre, who was able to create the tiny hand-wound actions needed.
Over the ensuing decades, Cartier created dozens, if not hundreds, regarding variations on the theme. The particular defining characteristics of the see have always been the particular square dial with Roman numerals, typically the square case, and the screws in the bezel. Other traits such as the crown guards and the bracelet came much later, but now it’s hard to imagine the Santos without them. https://www.highluxurystore.co
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