Cartier Santos Dumont

The first Cartier wristwatch, arguably the first sports watch of all time, and an enduring design to this day, the Cartier Santos-Dumont is a monument in the story of modern horology. Sure, it's 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-Dumont dates back to the early 1900s and a fascinating man, Alberto Santos-Dumont. Born in 1873 into a family of engineers and farmers, Santos-Dumont's father was involved in railroad construction, instilling in him a passion for travel and exploration. This naturally led to a fascination with aviation, his greatest passion. After moving to France, Santos-Dumont built a number of balloons, airships, and later, primitive aircraft. He quickly made significant breakthroughs in the history of early flight, including the very first publicly viewed manned flight in Europe. Santos-Dumont’s high profile, daring experiments 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 and creativity. In 1904, Louis Cartier gave Santos-Dumont a special watch that was designed to be worn on the wrist — a novel concept at the time. The primitive, sturdy square watch was essentially the first dedicated pilot's watch, and more broadly, the first sports watch. The so-called Cartier Santos-Dumont was as daring as Santos-Dumont’s early flights. At a point where the wristwatch was not yet popularized, Cartier presented a bold, square wristwatch 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. Since then, Cartier has made dozens of Santos models — automatics, manually-wound pieces, quartz watches, complicated references, and more. This particular Santos-Dumont is notable for its two-tone construction: Housed in a 20mm white gold case with a yellow gold 'rivet' bezel and blue cabochon-set crown, it features an acrylic crystal beneath which is situated a white 'Roman' dial with a 'chemin de fer' minute track and a blued steel 'sword' handset. Powered by a manually-wound movement and paired to a black alligator strap with a yellow gold deployant clasp, this has to be one of the most elegant Santos-Dumont references ever conceived. Don't sleep on this Paris-signed Reference 78226 — it surely won't last long!