The first wrist watch, arguably the first sports watch of all time, and an enduring design to this day, the Cartier Santos is one of the most significant watches that receives little recognition for its prominence. Sure, the Santos is a beloved watch design, but few fully grasp the biblical impact this piece has had on the industry as a whole. 

The story of the Cartier Santos dates back to the early 1900s and a fascinating man—- Alberto Santos-Dumont. Born in 1873 into a family of engineers and farmers, Alberto’s father was involved in railroad construction, instilling in Alberto a passion for travel and exploration. This naturally led to a fascination with aviation, Alberto’s greatest passion. 

After moving to France, Santos-Dumont built a number of balloons, airships, and later primitive aircraft. Alberto quickly made significant breakthroughs in the history of early flight, including manning the very first publicly viewed manned flight in Europe. Santos-Dumont’s high profile, daring missions put him in company with some of the most prominent personalities of France, including Louis Cartier. Cartier and Santos-Dumont’s friendship blossomed from mutual respect for innovation, creativity, and legacy. In 1904, Louis Cartier gave Santos-Dumont a special watch, designed to be worn on the wrist— a novel concept at the time. The primitive, sturdy square watch was essentially the first true sports watch. 

The so-called Cartier Santos was as daring a creation as Santos-Dumont’s missions. At a point where the wrist watch was not yet popularized, Cartier presented a bold, square wrist watch design, truly challenging the limits of buttoned up French tastes. However, by 1908, Cartier revisited the 1904 prototype made for Santos-Dumont, making the watch commercially available by 1911. 

The 1911 Cartier Santos-Dumont was the birth of one of Cartier’s most iconic watch designs in history. Since 1911, Cartier has made dozens of Santos models— automatics, manually wound pieces, quartz watches, complicated references, and more. 

This particular Santos features a 27mm two-tone yellow gold and stainless steel case with a matching two-tone integrated steel bracelet, a polished gold bezel with its signature exposed screws, a sapphire cabochon crown, and a lovely guilloche silver dial with printed black Roman indices and a matching blued-steel 'sword' handset.

If you're Cartier-curious but the Tank Louis doesn't speak to you, the slightly more versatile Santos might just be a perfect match.

Give this one a try!