Page 23 - My FlipBook 1

IT’S A PECULIARITY OF DRESS WATCHES— Cartier first developed the Santos (in an above (the world viewed from above being
especially the smaller ones, and especially in edition of one) for Alberto Santos-Dumont, something of an obsession in the dawn of
gold—that in summer they stick out on a naked a dapper Brazilian socialite and daredevil aviation). The screws that held the bezel in
forearm like stilettos on a vicar. Which makes who in 1901 was the first to fly around place were an homage to the industrial age
them an ideal go-to for the man who has the the Eiffel Tower in a dirigible he had built and echoed the feet of the giant Erector Set
nous to wear them in untraditional ways. himself. The controls were primitive, and fly- monument. The form of the current range
Cartier’s legendary watches, for example, ing it was, he said, like “pushing a candle of Santos watches retains all the detail of
have a surprising history of popping up on the through a brick wall.” Santos-Dumont begged that very first watch, but the scale—after it
most undressy wrists. Muhammad Ali wore Louis Cartier to come up with something that redebuted in 2018 in small and midsize—
a Tank. So did Andy Warhol. For years, the would allow him not to have to take a hand has just been beefed up by Cartier to a
indestructible Keith Richards wore a Panthère off the joystick to look at his pocket watch. modern XL. The new size, launching this
de Cartier with his faded denim and thread- The solution was arguably one of the first spring, comes in steel, rose gold, or steel
bare T-shirts with a nonchalance that could men’s wristwatches and the perfect mar- and rose gold combined. For maverick wrist
not have been imagined by Louis Cartier when riage of form and function. The Santos’s appeal, however, our money’s still on the
he created its forebears, first the Santos in then-revolutionary square shape was a styl- rose gold—and we have a feeling Alberto
1904 and then its tiny cousin, the Tank, in 1916. ized view of the Eiffel Tower from directly would agree.

THE THE SHORT STORIES HIGH-FLYING HOROLOGY
FACE
BEHIND
THE
FACE

EVERETT COLLECTION (SANTOS-DUMONT). COURTESY CARTIER (WATCH).

A CENTURY AGO, A SOUTH AMERICAN ADVENTURER ASKED CARTIER FOR A NEW KIND OF WATCH. THE COMPANY IS STILL OFFERING ANSWERS. BY NICK SULLIVAN

SANTOS-DUMONT WATCH ($15,600) BY CARTIER. 21