Style Edit: The new Santos de Cartier Petit Modèle reanimates in mini form an iconic 1904 design that was the precursor of the modern wristwatch – one designed for early aviators
the French jeweller's ingenuity , the new small model Santos de Cartier reanimates an emblematic design that has epitomised pioneering watchmaking since 1904. It was then that Louis Cartier and his friend, Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, conceived a wristwatch for early aeronauts that carried the pioneering pilot's name and afforded them precise timing in the cockpit at a glance, saving them from having to fish around in their jackets for their pocket watch.
The Santos de Cartier small model in steel. Photo: Handout
Considered the first modern wristwatch when offered to the public in 1911, the original Santos was as daring as those magnificent
pilots in their flying machines that inspired it. Rejecting the roundness of the pocket watch, it boldly sported a square bezel and a mechanical aesthetic: the eight screws securing the bezel were left proudly visible rather than hidden as was the norm.
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The new model Santos de Cartier in yellow gold and steel. Photo: Handout
The strong, uncompromising form of the 1904 Santos-Dumont enabled Cartier's watchmakers to lead the industry in the creation of new watch shapes, while its purity of line and precision of proportion invited them to soar ahead with new interpretations.
Decades later, in 1978, the Santos de Cartier line debuted and, in tune with the times, it embraced a sports watch approach. An integrated metal bracelet replaced the leather strap of the original pilot's watch. One model was crafted in steel rather than precious metal – a fashionable new attitude for a luxury maison; while a gleaming bimetal version in steel accented with a yellow-gold bezel and screws also turned heads.
The Santos de Cartier small model in yellow gold and steel. Photo: Handout
Cartier steered this ever-evolving watch from horological icon to cult object. Famously,
Michael Douglas ' corporate raider Gordon Gekko wore a gold Cartier Santos in the 1987 film Wall Street. Among more recent innovations, a Santos de Cartier became the brand's first skeleton watch.
The Santos de Cartier small model in yellow gold. Photo: Handout
Now landing in Hong Kong, the Santos de Cartier Petit Modèle encapsulates this century and more of watchmaking invention and reinvention. Slimmed down from larger models to a neat 27mm by 34.5mm, its dimensions echo the earliest versions of the watch. Fitted with a high-autonomy quartz movement rather than a mechanical engine, it emphasises fine proportions and adds a more sophisticated sunray dial effect.
Glints of blue on the familiar sword-shaped hands and tip of the seven-sided crown offer contrast to the pristine landscape of the silvered dial, and the bezel and bracelet offered in either steel, yellow gold, or a mix of the two. Each of the trio comes with an alternate leather strap – alligator for the all-gold model or calfskin for the others. So, just like the pioneering adventurers of old, you can strap up and then reach for the sky.
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