On a balmy October afternoon in 1901, as the dashing aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont took off into the Parisian skies in a yellow airship, little did he know that his adventure would eventually mould the history of the wristwatch as we know it today.
Deeply influenced by the rapid mechanical innovations in the early 20th century, Santos-Dumont would often toy around with hot air balloons and motor-powered dirigibles. In fact, he was the only person in Paris with a little flying machine tied to a lamp post in front of his apartment at the Champs-Élysées. He would hop onto his airship and casually land on rooftop bars and restaurants, impressing the city’s fashionable set like no one else. “Every night, he would fly this dirigible to Maxim’s for dinner. During the day, he'd fly to go shopping, he’d fly to visit friends,” recounts Paul Hoffman in his Santos-Dumont biography, Wings of Madness.
That autumn afternoon in 1901, as Santos-Dumont set off to be the first man to complete an aerial circuit from the Aéro-Club de France to the Eiffel Tower and back in under 30 minutes, he realised the futility of a pocket watch for aviators. The man nearly lost the Deutsch de la Meurthe contest and the prize money of 100,000 French francs all because he couldn’t keep time while piloting this journey.
Famous for his spirited air trips, impeccable fashion sense and design sensibilities, Santos-Dumont would often socialise with the likes of the Cartiers and the Roosevelts. On one such occasion, he brought up the timing quagmire to his equally enterprising and ingenious friend Louis Cartier, who then designed a robust, no-frills watch with leather strap for Santos-Dumont’s air expeditions. “The Cartier Santos was the first wristwatch of the modern age designed specifically to be worn on the wrist rather than being adapted for wear on the wrist,” says renowned author, historian and watch expert Nicholas Foulkes.
While wristlets or bracelets with watches had started creeping into women’s wardrobe as early as the 18th century, the Cartier Santos was recognised as the first real wristwatch for men. It was the world’s first pilot’s watch and also the first square watch meant to be worn on the wrist.
In an era largely dominated by round pocket watches, Louis Cartier had presented a rather futuristic timepiece in a square case with rounded corners and a bold bezel with eight exposed screws. Inspired by the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower, the original Santos was a unique piece made for the Brazilian aviator in 1904. By 1911, Cartier had bestowed the name, “Santos-Dumont,” upon its super successful watch, which was now a full production model available in platinum and yellow gold in a 25mm × 35mm case.
THE RISE OF THE NON-ROUND WATCH
Until the First World War, wristwatches or wristlets were largely a woman’s accoutrement. Concealed within sparkling diamond brooches, snuff boxes and long sautoir necklaces, secret watches were a rage in the 19th century. Paired with rich velvet gowns and jewelled slippers, these timepieces helped women keep a subtle check on the passing hours when in the company of men, who believed it was rude for ladies to enquire about time at social dos.
All this began to change as soldiers jerry-rigged pocket watches and strapped them on their wrists for synchronised artillery attacks. Two years into the First World War, the telephone and signal service made the wearing of watches obligatory. The evolution of the pocket watch gradually turned into a revolution by the Second World War, and after the wars, watchmakers clubbed utility with style, giving birth to timepieces used for diving, hiking, racing and hunting, among other adventures.
Buoyed by the success of the Santos, Louis Cartier was now getting more playful with his watch designs. Right from the Tonneau to the Tortue and perhaps the most iconic form watch of all, the Tank, Louis Cartier’s unusual and elaborate case designs sealed the status of the wristwatch as one of the most defining accessories in the postwar era. “In December 1916, the French public had its first glimpse of the tanks used in the war when one appeared looming terrifyingly above a soldier on the front cover of magazine Cartier’s new watch was said to have been. “Calling the watch the Tank was a stroke of genius from a sales perspective. It instantly tapped into the public’s mood … The Tank’s simple geometric design already appealed to the male aesthetic, but Cartier pushed the macho angle even further … Cartier named their new creation
