1575 Cartier Santos Dumont 90th Anniversary

A limited production of a classic shape Cartier always causes a stir. But this is particularly the case when only 90 examples were made, for the 90^th, with a salmon dial—of the Santos Dumont. The Santos Dumont was Cartier’s first wristwatch shape and one of the very first men’s purpose-made wristwatches ever, full stop. Its birthday means a lot. So, in 1994—yes, it was first made in 1904—this was Cartier’s birthday present to its most faithful collectors. And despite the beautiful palette, the real appeal is in the details. And one is heading to auction rather quietly.

Photography comes via a prior sale by A Collected Man. Example coming to Sotheby’s.

The 90th was also quite faithful to vintage. The proportions make this watch, 27x36mm and a miraculous 4.5mm thin profile. All 90 examples are in platinum. Notably, at the time, the CPCP Santos Dumont used the standard elongated, thin sword shape handset. The Breguet or pomme handset came back in blued steel for the 90th and that makes all the difference. The dial is also flat, not guilloche here, signed Swiss alone instead of Swiss Made. The specification is seen by many collectors as the most tasteful Santos Dumont which has been made in the contemporary era of Cartier.

Since 1994, this Santos has been on quite a ride. Starting around 2010, values rose from a few results near 12.5-13K USD toward 20K but 2015. By 2021, we saw the volatile peak with a few examples selling north of 50K. Today, the market has backed off a touch below 50K with many duplicated results. The production is small enough that one large sale can set a new precedent for all. This may or may not be that sale It is interesting to note that the rise of CPCP and Crash has left the values of the 90th relatively unaffected. While they are high, yes, they were high prior to and after that hype cycle. So perhaps, and this is all conjecture, this is where the non-hyped, learned Cartier collector is leaning.