Chromatic allure of the Santos-Dumont
ANOTHER favourite within the Santos collection, the Santos-Dumont had its last major facelift in 2018, when Cartier brought it closer than ever to the original model.
Elegant, simple, practical, and utterly stylish, this timepiece thoroughly embodies the essence of the man who inspired its name.
Indeed it had been the aviation pioneer, Alberto Santos-Dumont – admired as much for his contributions to early aviation history as he was for his impeccable sartorial choices – who commissioned Cartier’s first wristwatch in 1904.
This year, the maison enriched the Santos-Dumont line with three new lacquer-coloured models, so dapper that even the great aviator himself would approve.
Burgundy, beige, and black lacquer cover the watches’ bezels and lugs, with a dial in matching colour. Cases are crafted in platinum, rose gold, and steel respectively.
But as one might expect of a Cartier timepiece, these watches weren’t simply covered in lacquer. Rather, the components have been meticulously hollowed out, leaving just a fine outline on the edges.
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In a way that’s similar to champlevé enamel, the recesses are then filled with coloured lacquer, then smoothed and polished by hand.
This gives the watches a crisp, glossy finish with relief and depth, as if they’d come straight to life from their individualgouaches.
Customary at Cartier, the platinum model on burgundy leather, limited to just 150 pieces, comes with a red railroad minutes track and ruby cabochon.
The rose gold piece, limited to 250 pieces, has a blue sapphire cabochon and is worn on dark green alligator leather. The only non-limited edition piece, made in stainless steel, accentuates its jet-black aesthetic with a blue synthetic spinel cabochon.
All models come with the extra-thin manual-winding Calibre 430 MC, which brings the case height down to a very modest 7.3mm.
That, plus streamlined integrated lugs, ensures the watches would glide flawlessly under any shirt cuff.
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