‘Deux Ors’ 96061 Cartier Santos Dumont

The Santos is bewilderingly broad church. But 70s Santos Dumont is never the wrong choice, with its Frederic Piguet 21 and 4.5mm thinness (including crystal). And even in that niche, there’s still a lot to learn. This may look like a gold case, and it is. But it also isn’t: the bezel is white gold while the case is yellow gold. It’s known as the ‘Deux Ors’, or two golds, as it’s two-tone but all gold. 70s Cartier was simply too refined to offer a Santos Dumont in steel & gold, no. It had to be gold & gold.

It’s reference 96061 and it truly is quite an uncommon bird. The warmth of the midcase really does bring out the warmth in the white gold, to the extent that it almost camouflages in some light to appear monometallic. The immediate tell is to look at the bezel holes, which are always contrasting. If you didn’t know, those ‘studs’ were inspired by the rivets on the Eiffel tower, which are in fact rivets. Hence, despite the appealing look, the modern screw bezel is actually a bit against the original design as the Eiffel tower used rivets and nothing screwed. And at 26x36mm, it hasn’t suffered any of the heft that came with the contemporary Santos’s age. This is half the thickness of the current case, which is . . .erm, a noticeable difference.  

Much has recently been talked about 70s Cartier thanks to the recent work of Tony Traina and Matt Takata, both of whom have excellent guides to this world. Students of Cartier will note that this has a flat A and secret signature consistent with Mark 3 dials, signed Paris. Interestingly, I’ve only ever seen the Deux Ors in this Mark 3 configuration, which may indicate a slightly smaller or tighter production than the standard Santos Dumont (ref 78097) of the period. Or it also may indicate that I just haven’t seen enough of these. I also quite like the crowns on these, which are less aggressive than the 78097’s octagonal affair but a sort of chunkier, wider, more-knurled version of the Type 2 Tank Louis. All the Deux Ors seem to have these. There’s more to study here than meets the eye, and there’s more charm on wrist than images could ever manage. Quite the sexy vintage Cartier, as the good ones always are.

This example hits all the points. It’s been worn, certainly, the bezels shows that time on wrist. But not abused. You’ll not there are very few deeper bashes or marks. The case is sharp and well-defined, likely not touched. It comes with its original clasp and even Cartier strap, though it will come on the navy Saffiano pictured. As interesting a bimetal case as there’s ever been. It comes from a well-regarded collector.