Time and Tide Watches

Australian Watch Authority

  • Home
  • Shop
  • Reviews
  • Watch Fairs
    • Baselworld 2019
    • SIHH 2019
    • Baselworld 2018
    • SIHH 2018
    • Baselworld 2017
    • SIHH 2017
  • Club
  • Partners

09.10.2019
Nick Kenyon

The Cartier Santos-Dumont is a lesson in distilled elegance

Cartier is a brand that doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but instead gradually evolves their designs over decades, refining and purifying their core look with each year that goes by. For their latest collection, released at SIHH 2019, the focus was the Cartier Santos-Dumont, a dress watch that is both classically sized and slim, offering one of the most refined pieces of Cartier design we have seen in recent years.

Cartier Santos-Dumont

The new Cartier Santos-Dumont is available in two sizes (38mm x 27.5mm for the small model, and 43.5mm x 31.4mm for the large model) and both have managed to stay rakishly slender at 7.3mm. This is made possible by the high-autonomy quartz movement (with a strong battery life of six years), which not only keeps the watch well under the cuff, but also makes it available at a price point that is pretty uncommon for Cartier. Inevitably, there will be some who won’t have their pulse quickened by mention of the word quartz, but for others looking for access to an icon not just in the Cartier archives but the history of watch design, it is now easier than ever.

Cartier Santos-Dumont

In terms of design, the Santos-Dumont is distinctly Cartier with a square dial and elongated Roman numerals. There has to be something said for the angles of a square or rectangular dial and how well they are complemented by linear Roman numerals, just as conversely, curved Arabic numerals sit pleasingly on round dials. The blued sword hands pair nicely with the steeply domed blue cabochon set into the crown, which fills with an electric blue glow when under direct light.

Cartier Santos-Dumont

The body of the case is finished with vertical brushing; however, the bezel is highly polished, drawing the eye towards the dial by visibly framing it. As you would expect from such a clean design, the lugs flow seamlessly from the case, and tip downward to wrap comfortably around the wrist. The new Cartier Santos-Dumont is available in either steel, two-tone, or 18k rose gold, all of which come on a alligator leather strap, giving three distinct looks within a unified collection.

Cartier Santos-Dumont

It’s an interesting move by Cartier, not only to make a predominantly steel watch a pillar of this collection, but to use a quartz movement in it too. While there will undoubtedly be some quiet grumblings by aficionados who focus on mechanical exception and shudder at the sight of a closed circuit, sometimes not recognising that there are large markets with appetites for exactly this watch. It is a seriously appealing piece, not just because it is relatively affordable, but because the design is so strong it carries the Santos-Dumont into a place where it doesn’t need to lean on an automatic movement to justify itself, and will undoubtedly find itself at home in the collections of many considered enthusiasts.

The Cartier Stantos-Dumont small model in steel is AUD$5200, and the Santos-Dumont large model in steel is AUD$5600.

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
Email
289 Shares

BECOME A SUBSCRIBER

Don't miss any of the action! Join the community to get access to our weekly news round-up, behind the scenes stories, and entrance into exclusive competitions.


SIGN UP NOW
BRANDS
A
A. Lange & Sohne
Aegir Instruments
Akrivia
Alpina
Angelus
Apple
Aquadive
Archimede
Audemars Piguet
Australian Brands
Autodromo
B
Ball Watch Co
Bamford Watch Department
Baume et Mercier
Bausele
Bell & Ross
Blancpain
Breguet
Breitling
Bremont
Briston
Bulgari
Bulova
C
Cartier
Casio
Chanel
Chopard
Christopher Ward
Corum
Creux Automatiq
CT Scuderia
Cvstos
D
Dan Henry
Dior
Doxa
E
Edox
Erroyl
Eterna
F
Farer
Filson
Franck Muller
Frederique Constant
G
Gavox
Girard-Perregaux
Glashütte Original
Glycine
Gorilla
Grand Seiko
Gucci
H
H. Moser & Cie.
Haigh & Hastings
Halios
Hermes
Hublot
HYT
I
Ianos
IWC
J
Jaeger-LeCoultre
Jaquet Droz
L
Linde Werdelin
Longines
Louis Vuitton
Luminox
M
Martenero
Maurice Lacroix
MB&F - Maximilian Büsser & Friends
Melbourne Watch Company
Mido
Ming
Monta
Montblanc
N
Nodus
Nomos
O
Oak & Oscar
Omega
Oris
P
Panerai
Parmigiani Fleurier
Patek Philippe
Perrelet
Piaget
R
Rado
Ralph Lauren
Raymond Weil
Ressence
Richard Mille
Roger Dubuis
Rolex
S
Seals
Seiko
Sevenfriday
Sinn
Spinnaker
Stowa
Swatch
T
TAG Heuer
Tangramatic
Tiffany & Co
Tissot
Tudor
U
Ulysse Nardin
Undone
Unimatic
Urwerk
V
Vacheron Constantin
Van Cleef & Arpels
Victorinox
Z
Zenith
Zodiac
  • Company
  • The Team
  • Contact
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Refund and Exchange Policy
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

The original content on Time and Tide Watches is copyright protected. Please email us before re-posting our content elsewhere. When sharing our images on Pinterest or Instagram please use the credit ‘via Time+Tide' THANK  YOU

TIME+TIDE | MELBOURNE | AUSTRALIA | INFO@TIMEANDTIDEWATCHES.COM

© COPYRIGHT 2019 TIME+TIDE

  • Home
  • Shop
  • Subscribe Now!
  • Reviews
  • Video
  • Club
  • Partners
This site uses cookies as outlined in our cookie policy. Find out more.