As we’ve said before, there is never any shortage of anniversaries going on in the horological calendar, but that only means that there is never any shortage of things to talk about. Even with so many milestones being reached, a 100th anniversary celebration is always going to be a prominent talking point to cover, and many such events have been celebrated by Cartier. Obviously, Cartier has many acclaimed watch collections, and each of them has their own charm, but the Santos de Cartier is perhaps one of their most historically significant ranges, although possibly not their most famous.
The Santos de Cartier
Although the Santos de Cartier isn’t the assemblage that was begun to commemorate Louis Cartier’s personal choice of wristwatch, it was created to honour a very poignant event in Cartier’s timeline. In 1904, a renowned individual in the world of aviation named Alberto Santos-Dumont requested a timepiece from Louis Cartier, primarily due to the impracticality of pocket watches where practicing pilots were concerned. The result of this query was not only a huge step towards popularising the concept of a wristwatch in a more general sense, but was also the very first Cartier watch of all.
The Santos family built upon the enthusiasm that this original watch – displayed for many years in the Paris Air Museum – generated, and in 1911 it was unveiled as being available to the public at last. Possessing the square dial that is perhaps most recognisable within the Cartier Tank range, the Santos brought a distinct art deco flavour with it, and the geometry and rounded corners were warmly received. However, the 100th anniversary of the Santos de Cartier is now a decade ago, so why are we telling you all this? Well, because such important wristwatches go in and out of stock all the time, and, if you’ve been following us on Facebook, you’ll know that we now have one in store.
The 100th Anniversary Santos
What makes this watch instantly memorable is the screw settings that adorn the bezel, and when this almost ‘fabricated’ aesthetic is arrayed against the sleek 44mm stainless steel case and alligator leather bracelet, you have an immediately winning contrast. Many features that are common to the Santos range are also present, including a signature triple-folding buckle, a superbly visible silver opaline Roman dial, and, of course, a crown that’s set with a deep blue synthetic spinel. Finished with a finely-engineered calibre 076 automatic movement, this watch is clear proof that Cartier’s decision to publicise the originally unique and exclusive Santos family was an extremely wise one.
The Cartier Santos 100 medium automatic watch is available today for £4,400, and it can also be yours on 0% finance from as little as £97.77 per month. Of course, 100th anniversary edition or not, don’t forget that we have a vast assemblage of Cartier watches that belong to a plethora of different collections, so we genuinely do have something to cater to every possible preference. If you’d like to find out more about our available watches, or want to ask a question, contact our friendly team now by calling 01524 38 48 58. We’ll be more than happy to guide you towards your perfect wristwatch.
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