{"product_id":"cartier-santos-dumont-platinum-as10969","title":"Cartier Santos Dumont 'Platinum'","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe first Cartier wrist watch, arguably the first sports watch of all time, and an enduring design to this day, the Cartier Santos is one of the most significant watches that receives little recognition for its prominence. Sure, the Santos is a beloved watch \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003edesign\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, but few fully grasp the biblical impact this piece has had on the industry as a whole. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe story of the Cartier Santos dates back to the early 1900s and a fascinating man—- Alberto Santos-Dumont. Born in 1873 into a family of engineers and farmers, Alberto’s father was involved in railroad construction, instilling in Alberto a passion for travel and exploration. This naturally led to a fascination with aviation, Alberto’s greatest passion. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter moving to France, Santos-Dumont built a number of balloons, airships, and later primitive aircraft. Alberto quickly made significant breakthroughs in the history of early flight, including manning the very first publicly viewed manned flight in Europe. Santos-Dumont’s high profile, daring missions put him in company with some of the most prominent personalities of France, including Louis Cartier. Cartier and Santos-Dumont’s friendship blossomed from mutual respect for innovation, creativity, and legacy. In 1904, Louis Cartier gave Santos-Dumont a special watch, designed to be worn on the wrist— a novel concept at the time. The primitive, sturdy square watch was essentially the first true sports watch. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe so-called Cartier Santos was as daring a creation as Santos-Dumont’s missions. At a point where the wrist watch was not yet popularized, Cartier presented a bold, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003esquare\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e wrist watch design, truly challenging the limits of buttoned up French tastes. However, by 1908, Cartier revisited the 1904 prototype made for Santos-Dumont, making the watch commercially available by 1911. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe 1911 Cartier Santos-Dumont was the birth of one of Cartier’s most iconic watch designs in history. Since 1911, Cartier has made dozens of Santos models— automatics, manually wound pieces, quartz watches, complicated references, and more. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis particular example is one of Cartier’s most classic— sized at 27mm in platinum with a beautiful white dial. This piece includes all the classic defining hallmarks of the Santos with exposed screws decorating the bezel. A Roman numeral, Swiss signed dial, blued steel hands and cabochon tie the Santos to the other Cartier collections. This piece is outfitted with a hand-cranking movement within, which adds a bit of romance to the design. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSet on an alligator leather strap, this piece is paired with a deployant clasp.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Cartier","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41943787634775,"sku":"40950500","price":31500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0809\/1255\/files\/AS10969_40950500_CARTIER_SANTOSDUMONT_W1509051-1575-5.jpg?v=1757346650","url":"https:\/\/www.analogshift.com\/products\/cartier-santos-dumont-platinum-as10969","provider":"Analog:Shift","version":"1.0","type":"link"}