Try to consult a pocket watch at the controls of an airplane or airship ... in 1904. It was to allow his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, aviation pioneer, that Louis Cartier imagined with the master watchmaker Edmond Jaeger one of the first wristwatches in history. A model that has become cult, with its timeless Art Deco style, its square case, its rounded angles, its visible screws and the elegant cabochon of its crown. The one that was basically the first modern watch wanted to be readable in flight and functional, as was the aviator's look, between protective glasses, cap worn upside down and custom jacket crossed by cables connected to the rudder of his camera… A real dandy whose Louis Cartier ends up mass producing the watch, baptized Santos, in 1911.
More than a century after his birth, Cartier offered him a reincarnation in XL format with entirely reworked proportions, at the bottom of the box engraved with the initials SD, signature of the aviation pioneer. A new version with an extra-wide steel case which houses a fine 430 MC mechanical movement with manual winding, only 2.1 mm thick, with 38 hours of power reserve. Imposing with its 46.6 mm wide, this Santos XL is only 7.5 mm thick. All this at a surprisingly wise price for such a cult watch. "It is important to make tangible value to the customer, at an affordable or at least realistic price, for such a brand," says Cyrille Vigneron, head of Cartier. Loudly…
Cartier Santos-Dumont XL, € 4,700 (Cartier.com).