Cartier Santos History and Evolution

Aside from the Tank, the Santos is arguably Cartier’s most recognizable watch. It features many of the brand’s most enduring design codes, such as a square-shaped case with gently rounded corners and screws dotting the bezel. Dating back to the early 1900s, the Santos is also one of Cartier’s longest-produced collections and is often regarded as the first men’s wristwatch. It debuted during an era when pocket watches were the go-to timekeeping devices for gentlemen. It’s an important model, not just for Cartier but for watchmaking as a whole. Let’s unpack the Cartier Santos history and explore some of the collection’s most influential models.

Early History of the Cartier Santos

How did the Cartier Santos become the first men’s wristwatch? According to the brand itself, the watch was designed by Louis Cartier in 1904 for his friend and Brazilian pilot Alberto Santos-Dumont. It is widely believed that Santos-Dumont needed a more practical way to tell time while flying than fumbling with a pocket watch. And the eponymous Santos was born.

Early examples featured a leather strap, a square-shaped case, and functional screws surrounding the bezel. It’s important to note that it wasn’t as common at the time for men to wear wristwatches as it was for women, who had already been sporting watches on their wrists for decades before the invention of the Santos. However, Santos-Dumont and his immense street cred as a trailblazing pilot made them more accepted and commonplace.

Interestingly, the Santos was also technically one of the first pilot’s wristwatches because the aviator was known to wear it during his many achievements in the earliest years of aeronautics, some of which even pre-date the first flight by the Wright brothers in Kitty Hawk in 1903. By 1911, Cartier had started producing the Santos for the public, initially in platinum or yellow gold, with a leather strap, and what many believe was a Jaeger manufacture movement.

Popularity for the distinctive, square-shaped Santos waned during the Second World War when round, military-issued timepieces dominated. However, it would enjoy a resurgence decades later, which we will dive into further below.

A Timeline of Cartier Santos History

• 1904 Cartier Developed the Santos for Alberto Santos-Dumont.
• 1911 Cartier started producing the Santos for the masses.
• 1978 Cartier released the Cartier Santos Carrée, the first model in the newly branded “Santos de Cartier” line, featuring metal bracelets instead of leather straps. It was also one of the first watches in the brand’s portfolio that was not made of precious metal.
• 1984 The Santos Octagon appeared, in women’s sizes only. The Santos Ronde also debuts around this time.
• 1987 The Santos Carrée is replaced by the Santos Galbée.
• 2004 Cartier celebrated the Santos collection’s centennial with the Santos 100.
• 2005 Cartier Santos Galbée and Ronde discontinued.
• 2009 Cartier’s first skeleton watch was a Santos de Cartier.
• 2016 Cartier discontinued the Santos.
• 2018 Cartier re-released the Santos de Cartier.
• 2019 Cartier re-released the Santos-Dumont, first with a quartz movement.
• 2020 The Santos-Dumont received a hand-wind movement.

The Cartier Santos-Dumont vs. The Cartier Santos de Cartier

For the first 70+ years of the Cartier Santos’s history, it always came on a leather strap. Now, we generally call these Santos-Dumont models. The Santos de Cartier, which features a metal bracelet, didn’t join the French watchmaker’s portfolio until 1978. That move–which was spearheaded by Cartier’s marketing manager at the time, Dominique Perrin–appears to have been inspired by the steel luxury sports watches taking the market by storm at the time, such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus.

The sporty and angular Carrée (French for “square”) model was the very first Santos de Cartier model. Like the Santos-Dumont, it also had a square-shaped case with visible screws. However, the crown was flanked by guards, and instead of leather, the Santos de Cartier featured a matching integrated metal bracelet – the first bracelet in Cartier history to combine gold with steel. Before long, Cartier released an all-steel model (well-received by the masses) and later gold.

Santos Ronde

While the Cartier Santos is celebrated for its iconic square case, a significant chapter in its evolution is often omitted: the Santos Ronde. Introduced in the early 1980s, the Santos Ronde sports a round case, while retaining signature elements like exposed bezel screws and Roman numeral dials. The Santos Ronde was available in a variety of configurations—quartz and automatic movements, steel, gold, and two-tone cases—catering to a wide audience throughout its two-decade production run.

Notably, in 1997, Cartier released the Santos Ronde Aviator to commemorate the brand’s 150th anniversary, featuring a GMT complication and limited to 1,847 pieces. By about 2005, the Santos Ronde line had been quietly discontinued.

The Santos Octagon: An Odd Chapter of Cartier Santos History

The Cartier Santos Octagon debuted in 1984, inviting obvious comparisons to the Royal Oak. Santos Octagon models range in size from 25mm to 30mm, so this is a lineup clearly intended for women. The 25mm models were offered with both automatic and quartz movements, while all 30mm models are automatic.

The most common metal configuration is two-tone (stainless steel and yellow gold), though all-stainless steel and solid yellow gold versions also exist. The Santos Octagon was made in several exotic gem-set variations as well until it disappeared from the Cartier catalog sometime around 2002.

1987-2005: Enter The Cartier Santos Galbée

Cartier released the Santos Galbée in 1987. It was essentially an updated version of the Santos Carrée but with sleeker lines and a more ergonomic silhouette. In fact, the name Galbée, which translates in French to “curvy,” was inspired by the curvier shape of the case. The bracelet links also became a bit less angular for this generation. The Galbée proved to be an important step in Cartier Santos history.

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The watch remained a staple of the collection for almost two decades, spawning many collection-worthy variations, such as the popular Galbée XL with a large-for-that-time 32mm x 45mm case. All the while, Cartier continued to produce the Santos-Dumont, even releasing a few notable editions of the watch under the Collection Privée Cartier Paris during the late 1990s.

2004-2016: The Santos 100

2004 marked 100 years since Cartier developed the Santos for its namesake, Alberto Santos-Dumont. Not many brands have been around long enough to reach such a milestone, so it makes sense that Cartier would celebrate the occasion with a new model aptly named the Santos 100.

The watch follows a similar design blueprint as the rest of the Santos lineup, including a square-shaped case, a square-shaped bezel with visible screws, and a crown guard, but in relatively large sizes (up to 46.5mm wide for a tourbillon version). Despite the 100th anniversary taking place in 2004, Cartier continued producing the Santos 100 for over a decade, including a few skeletonized watches and some contemporary materials like black PVD steel and titanium.

2018 and Beyond: A New Chapter of Cartier Santos History

Cartier set tongues wagging in 2016 when it mysteriously removed the Santos from its website, sparking rumors that the icon was discontinued. However, the move proved temporary as the Santos de Cartier returned triumphantly to the Cartier catalog in 2018, with a new aesthetic for the next generation of collectors. That included a 39.8mm x 47.5mm large model and a bezel that was no longer perfectly square like previous models, but now curved downward to touch the bracelet.

13 new watches joined the lineup featuring a medium (35.1 x 41.9 mm) or large case, the caliber 1847 MC in-house movement, and either a stainless steel, two-tone, or full gold finish (pink gold or yellow gold).

Each was made available with multiple strap options, complete with the then-new QuickSwitch system that allowed the wearer to swap bracelets without tools. Cartier furnished the collection with the handy SmartLink system for removing links without tools as well. Modern touches like this certainly helped Cartier overtake Omega for the #2 luxury watch spot.

2019: The Santos-Dumont and Santos Chronograph

Cartier updated the Santos-Dumont in 2019, appealing to the entry-level crowd by initially offering the watch with a high-autonomy quartz movement and an impressive 6-years of battery life (it would receive a hand-wound mechanical movement just a year later, in 2020). As a quick refresher, the Santos-Dumont is the watch that most closely resembles the original model from 1904 with a leather strap, square-shaped case and bezel, and a beaded crown without crown guards.

For these time-only Santos-Dumont models, the bezel remains perfectly square and does not integrate into the bracelet like the new generation of Santos de Cartier watches from 2018. Furthermore, after 2019, the bezel is decorated with screws instead of rivets. It initially came in two sizes, a 27.5mm model and one measuring 31.4mm, both of which were a svelte 7mm thick. The 2019 release included an 18k rose gold, a two-tone, and a stainless steel model, each with a classy leather strap.

Cartier added a monopusher chronograph model to the Santos collection in 2019, featuring an XL case with 43.3mm x 51.3mm dimensions, the caliber 1904-CH MC Cariter movement, and the newer bezel shape from the Santos de Cartier. The start and stop function for the chronograph is accessed via the pusher on the left side of the case, while the chronograph reset is accessed via the winding crown. Cartier also updated the Santos de Cartier, released in 2018, adding a striking blue dial to the large model and a matching blue leather strap.

2020: Cartier Santos-Dumont XL, La Demoiselle, And Black Santos de Cartier

In 2020, the Santos de Cartier leaned further into the sporty side of its history by releasing two models dressed in ADLC – or “amorphous diamond-like carbon,” a highly resilient coating in matte black. The release included two large models: one in all-black ADLC and the other in two-tone, pairing ADLC with steel.

That same year, Cartier also released a trio of Santos-Dumont XL hand-wind watches as a follow-up to the large model quartz watches from 2019, featuring a 46.6mm x 33.9mm case, ultra-thin movements (the caliber 430MC, which is just 2.15mm thick), and three metal finishes: stainless steel, pink gold, and two-tone steel and pink gold.

A limited edition watch also joined the new hand-wind Santos-Dumont, featuring the same caliber 430MC as well as an XL case in platinum and an ecru dial and strap. Called the La Demoiselle, it pays homage to one of Alberto Santos-Dumont’s most famous aircraft by the same name. It features a basket-weave Panama-style motif on the strap and dial to honor the aviation visionary and the Panama hat he often wore. And, most distinctively, the watch has a visible micro-rotor in the shape of a biplane. The La Demoiselle was produced in limited quantities of just 30 watches and was originally sold with matching white gold cuff links and a wooden box.

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2021: Diamond Santos de Cartier and Limited-Edition Santos-Dumont

Next, Cartier added a handful of diamond-encrusted Santos de Cartier watches to the collection, with bezels featuring petite brilliant-cut diamonds.

Cartier also unveiled two limited edition Santos-Dumont watches in 2021. First was a platinum model with a delicate light blue dial and a ruby cabochon limited to 100 watches. That watch paid homage to Alberto Santos-Dumont’s airship, the “guide-rope maritime.” The other model was a two-tone steel and pink gold Santos-Dumont with a salmon dial and a sapphire cabochon limited to 500 pieces and inspired by airship No. 19 invented by Santos-Dumont. Both of these history-inspired Cartier Santos XL models are powered by the same hand-wind movement as the 2020 release.

2022-2024: The Santos-Dumont Gets Colorful

2022 brought about yet another capsule of limited-edition Santos-Dumont watches, this time with a lacquer coating on the bezel. The trio included a burgundy and platinum model with a burgundy leather strap, a beige and gold model on a green leather strap, and a black and steel model with a black leather strap.

The platinum and gold models were limited to 150 and 250 pieces, respectively, while the steel model joined the regular lineup. However, that watch (shown above) appears to have been discontinued. Each was a large model Cartier with the hand-wind caliber 430 MC.

In 2023, three colorful Santos-Dumont XL models with jade green, blue dumortierite, and burgundy jasper dials were released, this time with vintage-inspired apple-shaped hands. All three were limited to 200 pieces each. Then, three 2024-only lacquered Santos-Dumont colorways were made in the Large size: platinum with olive green lacquer, yellow gold with taupe grey lacquer, and rose gold with peacock blue lacquer.

As of 2025, all lacquered-case Santos-Dumont models are gone from the lineup, making them an interesting but short-lived piece of Cartier Santos history.

2024: The Santos-Dumont Rewind and Santos de Cartier Dual Time

In 2024, Cartier challenged us to “question our perception of time” with two new editions of the Santos. One was arguably more effective than the other, as there is no shortage of dual-time watches on the market. Nonetheless, the 2024 Santos de Cartier Dual Time large model was an exciting release for Santos enthusiasts, with an additional time zone at 6 o’clock. It was the second dual time model in Cartier Santos history, with the Ronde Aviator of the 1990s being the only other one.

On the other hand, the limited edition Santos-Dumont Rewind literally changed how we tell time by reversing the direction of the hands and the Roman numerals surrounding the dial. This innovative and polarizing watch was furnished in platinum and limited to 200 watches. We even named it as one of the defining watch releases of 2024.

It’s been an exciting few years for the Santos collection, to say the least. What can we expect the next chapter of Cartier Santos history to look like? Check back soon to stay updated on the entire collection’s history, from 1904 to 2025 and beyond.