Cartier Santos
One of the first wristwatches for men, made for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont.
The Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont wanted to read the time without taking out his pocket watch in flight. In 1904 Louis Cartier drew him a wristwatch with a square case and a leather strap.
Cartier began selling the Santos to other customers in 1911. The watch showed that a wristwatch could be for men, and the visible screws in the bezel returned in the modern versions from 1978.
Materials: Gold or steel, glass, leather strap; mechanical movement
Manufacture: The movements long came from Jaeger-LeCoultre; Cartier has made the watch in many versions.
The square case with rounded corners.
Visible screws in the bezel.
Roman numerals and blued steel hands.
The Santos is regarded as one of the first wristwatches made for a man. It showed that the wristwatch was practical at a time when gentlemen still wore pocket watches.
A square case with rounded corners, visible screws in the bezel, short strap attachments that are part of the case and an octagonal crown with a blue stone.
The Santos de Cartier from 1978, in steel and gold and with screws in the bracelet as well, made the model a bestseller. The Santos-Dumont is a thinner version on a leather strap.