The Watch: The Santos is the watch that helped invent the wristwatch as a category. In 1904, the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont complained to his friend Louis Cartier that he could not check a pocket watch while flying his early aircraft, and Cartier responded with a flat, square-cased watch meant to be worn on the wrist and read at a glance. The exposed screws and geometric case became one of the most enduring designs in watchmaking, and the Santos-Dumont line is the purest expression of that original 1904 spirit, stripped of the integrated bracelet and bezel screws of the sportier Santos de Cartier.
This reference is a large model with the case and bezel finished with black lacquer over steel. The dial features Cartier's signature Roman numerals over a concentric square pattern that emphasizes the geometry of the case. The beaded crown is set with the traditional blue synthetic spinel cabochon.
This version runs the hand-wound caliber 430 MC, a modified Piaget 430P, one of the thinnest manual movements available.
