The Watch: The Santos has the longest provenance of any wristwatch on the market: Louis Cartier built the original in 1904 for Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, who needed something he could read in the cockpit without reaching for a pocket. The Santos-Dumont line is the slimmer, dressier branch of the family, distinguished from the standard Santos by its proportions and its use of quartz movements rather than the Santos's automatic caliber.
The W2SA0020 is the two-tone version: stainless steel case with an 18k rose gold bezel and crown, paired with a brown alligator leather strap and a steel Cartier buckle. The case measures 38mm x 27.5mm at 7.3mm thick, which is genuine dress watch territory. The silvered dial features black Roman numerals, blued sword-shaped hands, the railway minute track, and a synthetic faceted blue spinel cabochon set into the rose gold crown.
The high-autonomy quartz movement runs for approximately 6 years on a single battery. The choice of quartz here is deliberate: it lets Cartier keep the case as thin as it is and the dial layout as clean. The watch is water resistant to 30 meters.
This is a 2024 example in excellent condition with box and papers.
