Cartier unveils a unique skeleton watch

The Cartier Santos 100 Squelette Watch was unveiled at the SIHH 2009. It is a watch unlike the other. Cartier broke watch boundries and delivered and icon. Cartier brings skeleton to a whole new dimension. The skeleton dial and Roman Numerals are integrated in the very framework of the watch.

The watch is cased in Palledium. Palledium is a rare metal. It has a lustrous sivery-white appearance. Palledium is part of a group known as platinum group metals (PGMs) which includes other elements such as platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. These metals share commen chemical properties; however, Palledium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense. It is an excellent material for a watch case as it is incredibly tarnish resistant, resistant to chemical erosion and intense heat.

The Palledium case is 46.5mm x 55mm. The entire movement is visible. Every part is finished and polished to perfection.

The Santos 100 is equipped with the 9611 MC skeleton movement manufactured exclusively by Cartier. This movement is designed for a complete visual thrill whereby nothing is hidden behind a well placed dial. There is no dial to display the time, but the movement itself so the movement becomes the display. The watch is manually wound as an automatic movement will conceal part of the watch. The fascinating aspect of this movement is that its very shape has been designed to include bridges shaped as large Roman Numerals and to utilize the entire space the Palledium case provides. As you can see the watch has two barrels, thus the 9611 MC caliber can reserve sufficient energy for 72 hours. The balance wheel can be seen pulsating at the 7:30 position.

The Santos Watch is named after Santos Dumont who required a watch that could be viewed with convenience while he was flying his plane. Click here to read this truly fascinating story of Santos Dumont and how he popularized the wrist watch.

How Santos-Dumont popularized the wristwatch for men.

Albert Santos-Dumont had the vision to fly, and was one of the early pioneers of flying. He was a celebrity of his time, flying amidst the wondrous upturned faces of the public. They wanted to be like him to dress like him, he was their icon, their superstar, and anything he wore was replicated by thousands... and so the wristwatch became popular.

Santos-Dumont was born on July 20th, 1873, in the Brazilian town of Palmira, the sixth of eight children. His father was French, an engineer and he owned a coffee plantation in the state of Sao Paulo. His father was known as the " Coffee King of Brazil" as he made a large fortune utilizing latest labor saving inventions of that time.

Santos-Dumont ,as a young child, looked up into the brilliant expansive view of the Brazilian sky and dreamed of flying. His father sustained an injury by falling from a horse and moved the family to Europe. Santos-Dumont who had always been fascinated with machinery bought himself an automobile and later studied physics. chemistry, mechanics and electricity.
Still his dream of flying persisted and he hired an experienced balloon pilot to take him on as a passenger, then he piloted the balloons himself, and then flew dirigible balloons (many people are more familiar with the German Zeppelin like that which docked atop the Empire State Building).
Santos-Dumont built and flew 11 dirigibles from 1898 and 1905. He would cruise along Paris boulevards at rooftop level, landing outside outdoor cafes for lunch.

He won the Deutsch de la Meurthe Prize by flying his "lighter than air"aircraft from Parc Saint Cloud to the Eifel Tower in less than thirty minutes, but it was the "heavier than air aircraft" that gained most of his attention. He flew an airplane he built, the 14-bis, on October 23, 1906, in front of a crowd of rapt spectators, 200 feet at a height of 10 feet above the ground. He was awarded the Archedeacon Prize in July 1906 as he was first aviator to fly more than 25 meters.

In 1904 while Santos-Dumont was celebrating his win of the Deutsch Price at the Maxim's Restaurant in Paris, he complained to his old friend ,Louis Cartier, about the difficulty of checking his pocket watch while trying to handle the controls of his aircraft. Santos-Dumont asked Louis Cartier to come up with a different way of checking the time whilst keeping both hands on the control. Louis Cartier and his master watchmaker ,Edmond Jaeger, brainstormed, and soon came up with the first prototype for a man's wristwatch. It was a watch on a leather strap with a buckle to be tied around the wrist. This was not the first time a wristwatch was invented, Patek Phillipe had created a wristwatch in 1868 for the Countess Koscowicz of Hungary, but Patek Phillipe creation was more of a style statement than the need for practicality.

After Santos-Dumont was presented with his wristwatch, he never flew without it, and it was with the Cartier wristwatch that Santos-Dumont, on November 12, 1906, used to confirm that he had broken his own personal record for flying 730 ft in twenty one seconds.

Santos-Dumont was nicknamed "le petit Santos" and the stylish of that time copied Santos-Dumont wardrobe from his high collared shirts to his singed Panama hat to his Cartier man's wristwatch. Santos-Dumont was indeed a trend setter, men are still very much wrist watch wearers; although they have done away with their high collared shirts and singed Panama hats.



Cartier Santos Dumont Mens' Manual Wind Watch Rose Gold Silver Dial on Brown Leather Strap W2006951

To honor Santos Dumont, Cartier has an entire Collection of wristwatches called Santos de Cartier. This collection includes Santos 100, Santos Dumont, and Santos Demoiselle for ladies. The striking square case provides a sense of complete equilibrium as well as practicality.

Wristwatches from immensely popular Santos de Cartier collection are available at THE WATCHERY, for 35% off the List Price. THE WATCHERY is your only stop for 100% genuine luxury wristwatches at incredibly low prices. Take advantage of the incredible deals and save.
Don't forget to check out the DEAL OF THE DAY - A new watch everyday where the watch of the day is further reduced to provide you with even greater savings.