1904: Cartier Santos — Lofty beginnings
A brief history of the 20th century told in watches.
Nothing captured the zeitgeist of the 20th century more than the mechanical gentleman’s wristwatch. Dressing pilots, divers, astronauts and race car drivers, it has become infused with the spirit of adventure. Today, it is functionally superfluous and ever popular. Time to look back at an object that is the manifestation of the 20th century.
A good place to start any chronology is it’s beginning.
It is vehemently contested who was first. First to invent the aeroplane that is. Ask an American and it is the Wright brothers, of course. Pose the same question to a Brazilian and the answer is “Alberto Santos=Dumont”, a 5ft 4" Parisian dandy and heir to a lavish coffee-fortune, who’s favourite pastime was flying his hot-air balloon to Maxim’s for lunch. He liked to style his name with an equal sign symbolising identical respect for his Brazilian and French heritage. Alberto was so consumed by his hobby of flying that he devoted much of his time and extravagant fortune to taking off. The Wrights were the first to fly an aeroplane, Santos-Dumont did so without the help of a launching rail (his plane was self-propelled). Regardless of who came first, Alberto Santos=Dumont was certainly an aéronaute par excellence.
It turns out that Alberto Santos-Dumont was a rather pragmatic dandy. (So far as people who fly to have lunch in balloons can be considered pragmatic.) In 1904, after winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize, he complained to his friend Louis Cartier about the difficulty of checking one’s pocket watch whilst “race ballooning”. Cartier promptly set out to create one of the most iconic wristwatches the world knows, aptly named “the Santos”.
It could be argued that the wristwatch was in fact invented by the house Patek Philippe, who’s master watchmakers in 1868 designed a functioning watch to be worn on a strap around the wrist for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary. The craze caught on with the plump wives of Hungarian aristocrats, however, these were flimsy objets d’art, jewellery which’s timekeeping function was merely a novelty. The advent of the wristwatch is undoubtedly linked to Santos-Dumont and his immense popularity as an aviation pioneer. Everybody, from London to Constantinople, came to know the house Cartier, whose creations the hero pilot wore on his adventures. This was the decisive moment when the wristwatch became a tool, an instrument and the matter of dreams.
Cartier continues to market a Santos de Cartier wristwatch and various other accessories bearing the aviator’s name.
While certainly not to everyone’s taste, the modern Santos retains much of it’s ancestors prized genes. Square shape, cabochon winder, simple roman numerals and a “rail” to make reading the dial easier are ever-present. The breguet hands have been replaced with simple sword styled ones. The Santos is an integral part of Cartier’s identity. While various woman’s models exist, the Santos retains a very masculine air. It certainly looks at home on a man’s wrist, pilot or not.
A basic, stainless steel men’s (large) Santos 100 on a leather strap will set you back 5,100£ nowadays. Add ca. 2,000£ for a gold bezel. Fancy anything more complicated and you can easily end up with a digit attached to that figure.
Vintage models (from the early 20th century) are virtually unobtainable. If they do come up for auction be prepared to spend serious money. The iconic status and elegant Parisian Belle Époque history make these a terrific way to own a piece of European history. The Cartier Santos is the harbinger of wristwatches in the 20th century and the first pilot’s watch ever made. A worthy start.
