Cartier Santos Carrée 2960

Cartier Santos Carrée Ref. 2960 - 'Massif'

The Cartier Santos is widely regarded as — wait for it.... ...one of the very first wrist watches. Full stop. Predating the more iconic Tank Louis by nearly two decades, the first Santos can trace its roots all the way back to circa 1904 when one Mr. Cartier provided his friend and pilot, Alberto Santos Dumont, a timepiece to be worn on the wrist, rather than kept in a pocket. The Santos is fascinating from a historical perspective in that it was not only the first wristwatch designed to be worn by a male, but also the first pilot's watch. Like so many icons, the Santos went on to see many variations, utilizing different sizes, movements, dials, and strap designs throughout its now 120-years of production. In the late 1970s, there were multiple variants available at the same time — one of which was faithful to the original design with a thin case profile, a manually-wound calibre, and came fitted to a leather strap — while another piece was introduced with an integrated bracelet, an automatic-winding movement, and featured a variety of dial options. The Santos that we have here is one of the latter, a Reference 2960 dating to circa the 1980s known as a Santos 'Carrée.' Around this time, the Santos Dumont was also in production and was largely a continuation of the original Santos in that it was fitted to a leather strap and was rather thin in profile. This example comes to us in honest overall condition. The case and matching bracelet are probably unpolished, showing honest signs of wear and sleeve-polish throughout. The engravings on the caseback and some of the factory finishing remain visible. The sapphire cabochon crown remains crisp and full with no chips or damage like so many of these do. Inside, the white enamel 'Swiss' dial is beautifully preserved and seemingly devoid of any of the usual fracturing or surface wear. The black printing and correct blued-steel 'sword' handset are also excellent. This configuration, with the yellow gold construction and prototypical white enamel dial has gained quite a bit of traction in recent years amongst collectors, and we feel that its justified. If you're keen to dip your feet into the world of Cartier, but the more fragile pieces aren't speaking to you, this might just be the perfect alternative. Movement: Automatic-winding Calibre 077 by Cartier. Bracelet/Strap: 18K Yellow gold bracelet with 20 links and signed deployant clasp. Shows matching heavy wear throughout with a notable blemish on the second link from the clasp on the 6:00 side. Mild stretch. Sized for ≈7.25" wrist.