Cartier Santos 100

The Santos 100 series represents an exceptional centennial reinterpretation of Louis Cartier’s ground breaking Santos design. The use color in this series, especially white-on-white watch faces and bands, as well as black watch faces with black bands, are of particular interest, and make it worth your review.

Find great deals on the Santos 100 here.

For sake of clarity, The Santos 100 is a series within the larger Santos collection. The Santos de Cartier collection is of course where the wristwatch era began in 1904, and is rightfully the standard by which all other timepieces have followed.

As you can probably tell from the name Santos 100, this series was introduced as a celebration of the collection’s centennial.

Here’s how Cartier describes the Santos 100 series on their website:

“A massive block of gold or steel for a fine piece of craftsmanship. This model was created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Santos de Cartier watch.”

“Strong character: The oversized face of the Santos 100 model stands out: a square watch with impressive dimensions.”

The original Santos was designed by Louis in 1904 for his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont. Alberto was a Brazilian pioneer aviator, who described the unreliability and impracticality of using pocket watches while piloting “flying machines”.

In 1910, Louis Cartier advanced the usefulness and longevity of Santos timepieces, by creating and patenting a deployment-folding clasp. More than a century later, this clasp remains a trademark element in the Santos collection.

From an aesthetics standpoint, Cartier describes the Santos 100 as follows:

“Independence: A dashing sporty version of the original Santos de Cartier watch.”

“New interpretation: All of the classic design elements of the original"

"Santos de Cartier watch are apparent, interpreted in a distinctively massive, powerful style.”

As featured on the Cartier website, the Santos 100 series includes 37 different models. 33 models are listed as appropriate for men, and 13 models are noted for women. (As a math whiz, please note this means that nine models in the series are considered unisex.)

The 33 men’s Santos 100 models come in steel, pink gold, white gold, yellow gold, titanium and palladium. Five models are set with diamonds. All of them come with a variety of leather (such as alligator) or rubber straps. The men’s series also has an exceptional range of types, from automatic and manual movements, and five chronographs.

The 13 women’s Santos 100 models come in steel, pink, yellow and white gold. Seven models are also set with diamonds. While most models have automatic movements, two models at the high end of this series come with manual movements. All of the women’s timepieces have either leather or rubber straps.

Sizes within the Santos 100 series include a range of medium, large and extra large models. Please note that all five of the extra large models are chronographs designed for men.

While the Santos 100 series is clearly balanced in favor of men, women should also give it a careful look. I have to believe there a number of women who will be drawn to the more sophisticated, professional, (shall we say “power”?) look of a Santos 100. To my Francophone eye, the white-on-white and black-on-black Santos 100 interpretations are timelessly classic. And for women, there are some unique ‘fashion statement’ options, such as models with pink and orange straps.

The good news is that the Santos series is diverse enough to meet most any Cartier enthusiast’s budget, as well as offering the exclusivity that high-end timepiece collectors demand. MSRPs range from $5,150.00 to upwards of $125,000.00 USD.

I’ve noticed online retailers are offering discounts of 15 to 25 percent on MSRPs. I’ve also noticed that the biggest discounts are available for the lower and mid-priced Santos 100 models. I say this to reinforce the breadth of price points available in this series. To use a cliché, “There’s something here for everyone.”

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am personally enamored with the Santos 100 Skeleton watch. But with a MSRP of $51,500.00 USD, I know it’ll most likely stay on the list of ‘unfulfilled fantasies’ we cope with as adults.

On a more practical note, I recommend that men take a look at the Santos 100 watch, medium model, with an automatic movement watch, pink gold, steel and a fabric strap. Personally, I find its black-on-black design to be a very cool twist on the traditional Cartier white face-on-black accents look.

The 13 choices within the Santos 100 series for women are strong. Prices start at $5,250.00 and go into the range of $100,000.00 USD. A review of Google searches for “Cartier Santos 100 women’s watches” clearly shows the most popular models are in the $4,000.00 – 5,000.00 range.

And, oh by the way, if you’re an iPhone geek here is a link to Cool Spotters, with an iPhone app for two different Cartier Santos 100 Cool Papers wallpapers:

http://coolspotters.com/watches/cartier-santos-100-watch/wallpapers