Last year?s SIHH saw Cartier relaunch the famed Santos de Cartier, the gents? timepiece inspired by Alberto Santos-Dumont ? pioneering aviator, inventor, and buddy of Louis Cartier, who basically invented the wristwatch as a personal favor to him. The story of the Santos?s origins can be explored in a bit more detail in my report on the new collection from SIHH 2018, but today we?re going to focus on two new additions to the line unveiled at this year?s salon, which wrapped up yesterday in Geneva: the Santos Chronograph and Santos Skeleton Noctambule.
Cartier Santos de Cartier Chronograph in steel and yellow gold
Each of the new watches is tied to a Santos-Dumont aviation theme. The Santos de Cartier Chronograph, which is available in all rose gold, two-tone yellow gold and steel, and steel and black DLC, draws its inspiration from the flying speed records that Santos-Dumont set, the earliest of which dates all the way back to 1906, and the devices used to time those speeds. The case, in that distinctive rounded-square shape, is available in two sizes, which Cartier calls Large (35.1 mm x 45.9 mm) and Extra Large (39.8 mm x 47.5 mm). Its ergonomical shape has been engineered to include a single start-stop chronograph pusher at 9 o?clock; the reset button has been directly integrated into the crown. The dial has a classic tricompax design, with subdials at 3, 6 , and 9 o’clock, a date window at 6 o’clock, and Cartier’s well-known Roman hour numerals surroun...