The Cartier Santos is one of the most representative pieces of the French brand of luxury products. This model is a tribute to Alberto Santos Dumont, the true pioneer of aviation, thanks to his deeds at the beginning of the 20th century, aviation began to develop with the first self-propelled aircraft.

The legacy of the Brazilian engineer is the inspiration for a legendary collection, heir to Cartier's style and passion for luxury.

Alberto Santos Dumont and the development of aviation

The life of Alberto Santos Dumont is quite an adventure. This Brazilian engineer was born in 1873 in Palmira, a city in southern Brazil, currently known as Santos Dumont city.

Throughout his life he pursued a goal, to develop different self-propelled aerial devices, on October 23, 1906 he managed to fly 60 meters at a height of between 2 and 3 meters above ground level in Paris, it was the first time that a self-propelled device got.

Santos Dumont did not patent any of his aeronautical inventions, his goal was to develop an industry in which anyone could participate. Dumont developed aerostatic balloons, airships and pioneering airplanes, which served as a model for, a few decades later, developing the aeronautical industry as we know it today.

Alberto Santos Dumont was a man of his time, passionate about innovation, whom Cartier wanted to honor by launching a design that reflected the innovative spirit of the Brazilian engineer.

The union of Santos Dumont and Cartier

Santos Dumont and Louis Cartier met in 1900, the owner and founder of the luxury brand was impressed from the first moment with Santos Dumont's projects, designed to change the way everyone moves, as it finally happened.

The real origin of the collection takes place in an anecdote, which happened when the Brazilian engineer told Cartier about the difficulty of reading the time on a watch during a flight. These watches were still pocket watches, three years later Cartier was able to design one of the first wristwatches, specially prepared to read the time in flight.

From this model, different designs have been developed, all of them based on variations on the same model.

The Cartier Santos-Dumont Collection

The Cartier Santos Dumont has a square case, screwed down with eight screws. Crowns are also very particular, they usually include jewels and are made in different designs.

In terms of materials, Cartier follows the principles of its jewelry collections in its luxury watches. In the case of the Santos Dumont collection, most of the pieces incorporate materials such as gold in different colors, luxury straps, even diamond crowns. Another of the details of the Santos Dumont watches are the jewels that hide their mechanism, in the skeleton models you can see the extent to which Cartier pays all its attention to these details.

Cartier's objective was to create a recognizable watch at first sight, which in addition to fitting perfectly on the wrist, the Santos Dumont managed, as we will see below, to integrate the entire mechanism of a watch into a device that was capable of adjusting to the wrist.

Cartier Santos Dumont, the first aviation wristwatch

The aviation contests in which Santos Dumont participated had the purpose of completing routes in a certain time, however, the pilot had to have both hands occupied on the controls, without being able to consult his pocket watch, that is the reason why Santos Dumont asked Cartier to design a wristwatch, which he could consult in flight.

Cartier got to work on the project and three years later was able to develop a bracelet that fit perfectly on the wrist, and a mechanism small enough to fit into a wristwatch.

In reality, this model was a prototype, and mass production did not begin until 1979, when Cartier decided to develop a specific line, based on the world's first aeronautical watch.

Aviator watches are very particular, some collectors look for this type of pieces due to their design, the Cartier Santos Dumont was the first aviation watch, over time this type of watch has evolved, presenting larger dials to facilitate its vision, or based on the indicators that airplanes usually carry for their measurements.

The mixture of history and innovation

Cartier Santos Dumont is the best blend of tradition and innovation. The square design and the exposed screws are two symbols of tradition of this model, a symbol of the history of this watch, however, this base has been reinterpreted over and over again by Cartier.

Among the innovative features of this watch is the QuickSwitch system, developed by Cartier, which allows the bracelets to be exchanged easily and immediately.

Another of the innovative aspects of this watch is its mechanism. Cartier has one of its hallmarks in the Santos Dumonts, which is why it includes new, increasingly precise movements that make this watch not only a reference in terms of design, but also in terms of time measurement accuracy.

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