Along with the new Tonneau collection that we previously covered, Cartier unveiled a whole host of other watches at SIHH 2019. For the ladies, there were plenty of jewelry watches to choose from, like the curvy Baignoire, as well as new iterations of the famed Panthère. However, outside of the women’s watches, it was all about the Cartier Santos collection (which was drastically updated last year), with a few new models joining the Cartier lineup for 2019.
Cartier Santos-Dumont
With their square cases, Roman numeral dials, and beaded winding crowns set with blue cabochons, the Cartier Santos-Dumont watches are the direct descendants of the wristwatch that Louis Cartier gave to his aviator friend Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1904.
For 2019, Cartier fleshes out the collection with new options in pink gold, stainless steel, and a two-tone version in pink gold and steel. Additionally, because of their classic good looks and the choice of both small and large sizes, the new additions to the Cartier Santos-Dumont collection are equally well-suited to both male and female wrists. Powering the new Santos-Dumont watches are slimline, high-efficiency quartz movements (made by the Richemont Group), which not only offer an impressive six-year battery life, but also allow Cartier to increase the accessibility of their timepieces due to a significantly lower entry price point.
Cartier Santos Large
Also new for this year is the Santos de Cartier Large dressed with a striking new dial. Housed within the 39.8 mm by 47.5 mm stainless steel case is a metallic blue dial topped with mirror-finished Roman numerals, luminescent sword-shaped hands, and a date window at the 6 o’clock location. This version of the Santos de Cartier runs on the in-house 1847 MC automatic movement, which offers users a 48-hour power reserve. Additionally, since last year, Cartier has fitted the Santos collection with a clever “QuickSwitch” strap-changing system, which makes switching up the look of these watches a breeze.
Cartier Santos Skeleton Noctambule
Named after the French word for “night owl,” the Santos Skeleton Noctambule is fitted with a dial that shines bright when the lights go down. However, since the dial is highly skeletonized, Cartier fashioned the movement plates in the form large Roman numerals, which serve as the hour markers for the watch. The numerals are then painted with Super-LumiNova to give the watch its green glow and striking night-time appearance. Look beyond the indices and you’ll spot the manually-wound, Caliber 9612 MC in-house movement, which offers users a 72-hour power reserve. To match the dark, after-hours theme of the watch, the Santos Skeleton Noctambule’s 39.8 mm by 47.5 mm stainless steel case is coated with amorphous diamond-like carbon (ADLC) finish for a slightly glossy, all-black appearance.
Cartier Santos Chronograph
It was only a matter of time before Cartier furnished their updated Santos collection with the crowd-pleasing chronograph complication – and here it is, just one year later. The Cartier Santos Chronograph sports a 43.3 mm x 51.3 mm case in three metal options: stainless steel with a black ADLC-coated bezel, stainless steel with a yellow gold bezel, and full pink gold. Additionally, there are also plenty of strap and bracelet options, which include black ADLC-coated bracelets, a two-tone steel and gold bracelet, and various straps in either alligator leather or rubber.
In a surprising move, Cartier modified the in-house 1904-CH MC movement to re-position the start/stop pusher for the chronograph on the left side of the case, while the reset pusher is integrated into the winding crown. The three registers on the dial are in the familiar 3, 6, and 9 positions, and there’s also a date window tucked into the constant seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. The atypical location of the chronograph pushers, along with the square shape of the watch, give the new Santos Chronograph collection a certain degree of symmetry in its design that is not normally achieved by watches fitted with chronograph complications.
