Cartier Santos

Vintage Cartier Santos(es) are having a major moment right now. Take a look at Lou Reed in the ‘80s or Jerry Seinfeld in the ‘90s, and you can begin to understand how cool the watch looks no matter what kind of fits you style it with. Oh, you know who else has a vintage Santos? Rihanna. She wears hers to the grocery store. It’s a versatile, everyday watch – an eye-catching alternative to the classic Tank.

THE BASICS

DATE OF BIRTH: C. 1980s

MATERIAL: Steel and Yellow Gold 

SIZE: Small (24mm x 35mm) 

MOVEMENT: Automatic

CONDITION: Very good, lightly polished

BOX/PAPERS: No/No

THE NITTY GRITTY

A stainless steel and eighteen carat gold Cartier Santos. Perhaps alongside the Tank, the Santos is the most iconic of all Cartier watch designs. Not only is it very distinctive on the eye, it also carries the title of the first men’s wristwatch ever made.  A relationship between the Brazilian early aviator Santos Dumont and Louis Cartier lead to the creation of the watch that bore his name. After complaining to Louis Cartier about how difficult it was to wear a pocket watch while trying to fly, Cartier came up with a solution for his intrepid Brazilian friend. And so, the Cartier Santos was born. The November 1906 film which shows Santos’s 21.5 seconds of flight also features the first wristwatch hard at work!

This model, which became a more sporty example that this original version, launched in 1978 hot on the heels of the introduction of the Royal Oak and Nautilus and was Cartier’s attempt to keep up with their rivals. This watch, in this form, the two tone version, went on to become one of the most legendary watches of the 1980s. The wrist of Gordon Gekko would not have sported anything else.

The watch is powered by the Cartier automatic movement. It has the classic design with the screw down crystal frame and bracelet set with screw designs. The dial is classic Cartier: Roman numerals with the hidden signature at the one the one of the 10 o’clock, chemin de fer minute track, sword blued steel hands, and blue sapphire set winding crown. Due to the smaller size of this model, there is no room for the date window which is found on the larger sizes. This creates a cleaner, simplified look overall. The watch is presented in good pre-owned condition, lightly polished, but with strong lines and clean throughout. The dial is in excellent condition. A cult classic worn by many icons over the years which is now becoming the must have Cartier again.

All watches are protected against mechanical failure under a 1 year warranty by Foundwell.