Cartier Santos de Cartier Large

A watch for a man in the air

Alberto Santos-Dumont was born in Brazil in 1873 and made his name in Paris as one of the first people to fly. He built a series of airships from 1898, flew one around the Eiffel Tower in 1899, and on October 19, 1901, won the Deutsch Prize by flying his airship No. 6 around the tower and back to his starting point in 29 minutes and 30 seconds.

Flying with both hands busy, he found a pocket watch impractical, and he said so to Louis Cartier. In 1904 Cartier designed a flat wristwatch with a distinctive square bezel that Santos-Dumont favored. Cartier's own description today says Louis Cartier granted the aviator's wish to be able to tell time while flying.

In 1907 Cartier signed a contract with Edmond Jaeger, who agreed to supply movements exclusively for Cartier watches, and in 1911 the Santos went on sale to the public as Cartier's first men's wristwatch. It is the only Cartier watch named after its original wearer. (Claims that it was the first men's wristwatch of any kind are often repeated but are not supported by the sources used here.)

Santos-Dumont in the air

Two years after the watch was made, Santos-Dumont flew a heavier-than-air machine. On October 23, 1906, his 14-bis left the ground at Bagatelle in Paris for about 60 meters. On November 12, 1906, it flew 220 meters in 21 seconds at an average of 37.4 km/h.

His later Demoiselle of 1909 could reach about 90 km/h and has been called the first ultralight. He died in Guarujá, Brazil, on July 23, 1932. The watch outlived his flying career by more than a century.

The screws, and the 1978 revival

The Santos as most people know it took shape in 1978. On October 20 of that year Cartier launched a new Santos de Cartier, conceived by Dominique Perrin, then its marketing manager, at the Musée de l'Air in Paris. It was a two-tone watch of steel with gold screws and a steel and gold bracelet, and one account says it was the first Cartier watch made in steel, apart from a 1924 Bakelite model.

The exposed screws on the bezel and bracelet became the line's signature. In 1987 the case was made smoother and more curved and the watch relaunched as the Santos Galbée. The Santos 100 followed in 2004, marking a hundred years since the original, and the 2018 collection replaced it. Around 2016 the Santos briefly disappeared from Cartier's websites while the company reworked it.

At the SIHH fair in 2018, exactly forty years after the 1978 launch, Cartier introduced the current Santos de Cartier in a medium size of 35.1 x 41.9 mm and a large size of 39.8 x 47.5 mm. The new collection's headline features were two patent-pending systems: QuickSwitch, which releases a strap or bracelet from the case with a button underneath, and SmartLink, which lets the owner remove bracelet links without tools.

The all-black Large: WSSA0039

In November 2020 Cartier added reference WSSA0039, a Large Santos in steel covered with a black amorphous diamond-like carbon (ADLC) coating. One review notes the coating is hard to apply evenly across every steel part without color variation, which contributes to the price. The watch launched in the United States at $7,700.

The case measures 47.5 by 39.8 mm and 9.38 mm thick, with a square sapphire crystal, a steel crown set with a black faceted synthetic spinel, and water resistance to 10 bar. The black dial carries Roman numerals and sword-shaped hands with luminescent material.

Inside is Cartier's automatic caliber 1847 MC, developed and made in-house, running at 4 Hz with about two days of power reserve. The watch comes with a black rubber strap and a second strap in black alligator leather, both fitted with QuickSwitch and a steel deployant buckle.

One review positioned it as the successor to the 2016 Santos 100 Carbon, a stealthy, casual take on a watch better known in gold and steel. Cartier's U.S. site listed it at $9,850 in 2026.

Why it matters

The Santos carries the oldest story in Cartier's watch catalog: a jeweler solving a practical problem for an aviator. The square case, the curved horns and the exposed screws have survived every reinterpretation since, and Cartier still describes the watch in exactly those terms.

The black WSSA0039 is the most modern-looking version of that idea. It keeps the 1904 geometry and the 1978 screws, but trades gold for a coated steel case and a rubber strap, and the QuickSwitch system lets the owner move from rubber to leather in seconds.

The numbers

Reference

WSSA0039

Caliber

Cartier 1847 MC, automatic, 4 Hz, about two days of power reserve

Case size

47.5 x 39.8 mm, 9.38 mm thick

Case material

Stainless steel with black ADLC coating

Water resistance

10 bar (100 m)

Released

November 2020; in current production

Design origin

1904; first sold 1911; modern collection 2018

Timeline

1. Jul 20, 1873

   Alberto Santos-Dumont is born in Palmira, Brazil.

2. Oct 19, 1901

   Santos-Dumont wins the Deutsch Prize, flying his airship around the Eiffel Tower in 29 minutes 30 seconds.

3. 1904

   Louis Cartier designs a flat square wristwatch for Santos-Dumont to read while flying.

4. Nov 12, 1906

   Santos-Dumont's 14-bis flies 220 meters in 21 seconds in Paris.

5. 1907

   Cartier signs an exclusive movement-supply contract with Edmond Jaeger.

6. 1911

   The Santos goes on sale as Cartier's first men's wristwatch.

7. Jul 23, 1932

   Santos-Dumont dies in Guarujá, Brazil.

8. Oct 20, 1978

   Cartier launches the steel-and-gold Santos de Cartier with exposed screws, conceived by Dominique Perrin.

9. 1987

   The case is softened and the watch relaunched as the Santos Galbée.

10. 2004

    The Santos 100 is introduced.

11. 2018

    Cartier relaunches the Santos de Cartier at SIHH with QuickSwitch and SmartLink.

12. Nov 2020

    The all-black ADLC Santos Large, reference WSSA0039, is released at $7,700.

The world in 1904

• Feb 8, 1904

  Japan attacks Port Arthur, opening the Russo-Japanese War.

• Apr 8, 1904

  Britain and France sign the Entente Cordiale.

• Apr 30, 1904

  The Louisiana Purchase Exposition opens in St. Louis.

• May 4, 1904

  U.S. Army engineers begin work on the Panama Canal.

• Jul 1, 1904

  The St. Louis Olympics open, the first Games held in the United States.

• Oct 27, 1904

  The first underground line of the New York City Subway opens.

• Dec 27, 1904

  'Peter Pan' premieres in London.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Cartier Santos de Cartier Large is number 81 of 100 in the watches entries of the FLOAT 100. 54 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (66 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Santos is the only Cartier watch named after its original wearer.
• Santos-Dumont gave his Deutsch Prize money to Paris workers and the unemployed.
• The 1978 Santos was launched at the Musée de l'Air in Paris.
• The 2018 relaunch came exactly 40 years after the 1978 Santos de Cartier.
• QuickSwitch lets an owner swap the WSSA0039's rubber strap for leather by pressing a button, with no tools.
• The watch's U.S. price rose from $7,700 at release in 2020 to $9,850 in 2026.