A friend recently asked me to introduce a fashionable square watch. Of course, the brand should be good enough. First, the potential consciousness of most people regard the round watch as the first choice, and there are not many people who actively want to have a square watch. Secondly, the word “fashionable” lets me think for a few minutes.

For me, the first watch in my life is a square watch, so I have a natural closeness to this friend, then I thoughtfully responded to her: Santos.

Perhaps mentioning Cartier, the Balloon Blue de Cartier is that you can’t miss in your mind (born in 2007, creating an amazing market), but the Santos with more than 100 years of history has more interesting stories with deep historical imprint.

After all, the watches with stories always make people think for a long time.

The history of Santos watches are well-known the watch lovers, but many details may not be truly restored. It is a watch related to human flight, and the initial solution is actually a practical problem – how to make it easier for the pilot to read the time while operating the aircraft.

The protagonist of the story is the famous Brazilian pilot Alberto Santos Dumont, and of course the other is his friend Louis Cartier.

Alberto Santos Dumont & Louis Cartier

One afternoon in October 1901, the people of Paris came to Saint-Cloud because they wanted to witness a flying feat – Sandos would test his Santos VI again and plan to surround the Eiffel Tower and returned to its original location. At the time, Louis Cartier had set a table next to the Eiffel Tower, and together with the famous novelists Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, prepared to celebrate Alberto Santos Dumont.

Santos and his Aircraft

In fact, just two months ago, Sandos suffered a defeat in driving the Santos V. However, this did not prevent him from driving the No. 6 spacecraft to continue the challenge.

When Santos walked around the Eiffel Tower, he suffered three engine lockouts. He relied on his own insurance, but spent a lot of time in dealing with the crisis, such as throwing sandbags. Although the final landing successfully, the audience also flocked to congratulate him on his success, but got bad news – because his performance exceeded the specified time of 40 seconds, he did not win the grand prize.

That night, Santos was very lost. He came to Maxim’s restaurant and told his friend Louis Cartier that he couldn’t take out his pocket watch to confirm the time when his hands had to control the spacecraft, so he lost.

Unintentional complaints, but it is remembered in Louise Cartier’s hearts. In 1904, the Cartier Santos watch was born to put the watch on the wrist and make it easier for the pilot to read the time.

Santos Watch in 1904

Santos is a person who is completely passionate about his dreams. He has not applied for any patents in his life, but this watch has completely recorded this history.

Later, Sandos himself’s fashion demonstration role also attracted the Paris citizens to be eager for this watch, Santos has also become one of Cartier’s classic series. In 1908, Cartier satisfied the desire of a few specific customers to own the watch, and according to the Cartier Company’s records, about 770 watches were produced from 1911 to 1973.

First, let’s take a look at the Santos watches from 1921 and 1926.

The Leather Strap Piece (Left) Belonged to Indian Maharaja of Rajpipla

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