The Watch Hall of Fame: The Cartier Santos de Cartier
🎶Guess who’s back. Back again.🎶 Yep, another installment of the watch hall of fame. You’re welcome. But who is the star of todays blog? I can reveal that winner of a place in the hall of fame is… the Santos de Cartier! Lets get straight into it and discuss what makes this watch so iconic.
The Santos watch was created all the way back in 1904 by Louis Cartier, the grandson of the founder of Cartier, for his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont (you may see where it got its name from now). The Santos de Cartier is one of Cartier’s most popular watches and rightfully so, this watch changed the relationship between horology and aviation forever, as we’ll discuss later on.
Quality
It’s no secret that Cartier watches are excellent quality and the Santos is no exception. It’s made from hardy stainless steel or other precious metals, depending on the model, and crafted by expert watchmakers. Because Cartier is a renowned French brand many people turn their nose up at their watches believing that they aren’t as superior as their Swiss counterparts, however this couldn’t be more untrue.
Cartier also manufacture their watches in Switzerland taking advantage of the Swiss expertise. Their watches undergo 100+ tests to ensure that they are durable and highly accurate. Although the Santos is a pricey watch, you can guarantee that you are getting bang for your buck.
Personality
The Santos is arguably one of the most iconic watches in terms of its appearance. It’s minimalistic square shape is its most distinctive feature, setting it apart from the majority of other luxury watches on the market. It also features the iconic Cartier screws which instantly ties it to the brand. The design of the watch has strayed very little from the original model showing how timeless its look is.
The gorgeous Santos has been seen on the wrist of many A-list celebs including Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hiddleston, & Rami Malek. Talk about mingling with the stars.
Legacy
So, do you remember earlier when we mentioned that the Santos changed the relationship between horology and aviation? Well when we discussed how the watch was created for Alberto Santos-Dumont, we missed out a bit of the story. Alberto was actually a pioneer in aviation, inventing some of the first planes and airships. As you can imagine fumbling around for a pocket watch whilst risking your life flying very early concept airplanes wouldn't exactly be ideal. Luckily Alberto was good friends with Mr. Louis Cartier so Louis designed a watch which could be worn around the wrist via a leather strap. Yes, that’s right. The Santos was the first EVER modern men’s wristwatch!
Alberto even wore his Santos when he performed his first public engine powered flight which led to a very high demand for this new aviation watch. As a result Cartier began to mass produce the Santos in 1911. Pretty cool, huh? The Santos de Cartier truly changed the world of watches forever which is why it is firmly placed in the watch hall of fame!
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And there we have it. I hope you have a newfound appreciation for the Santos de Cartier because without it the luxury watch market may have never been! If you've enjoyed reading, why don't you check out our previous instalments of "The Watch Hall of Fame" so you can see what other iconic watches have earned their place. Thanks for reading, have a great day :)