Cartier Santos

The Tank isn’t the only prominent wristwatch from luxury powerhouse Cartier.  Predating the Tank Louis by nearly two decades, the original Santos model was designed in 1904, and has seen any number of iterations in the past century — including a brilliant revival in recent years. Available in quartz, hand-wound and automatic varieties in different metals and configurations, it’s an important historical model and one of the maison’s finest creations.  This particular Santos, a contemporary variant, features a 35mm 18k rose gold case with an excellent integrated black alligator leather strap with a matchign rose gold deployant clasp, a sapphire crystal, a sapphire cabochon crown, and a glossy black dial with printed Roman indices and a matching rose gold sword handset. If you're Cartier-curious but the Tank Louis doesn't speak to you, the slightly more versatile Santos Dumont might just be perfect match. Give this one a try!