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Alberto Santos-Dumont was a Brazilian aviator. In the early part of the 20th century he had a recurrent complaint: the pocket watches that were available at the time were simply insufficient for flying. They were unreliable as well as impractical. He shared his lament with his good friend, Louis Cartier, of the eponymous company, and shortly thereafter, the first men’s wristwatch was born. (For the record, Patek Phillipe made the first ever wristwatch, but alas, it was for ladies). Furthermore, the watch was a huge hit, not just with Mr. Santos, but with Cartier’s growing clientele.

And now, over a hundred years removed from that initial inspired effort, the Cartier Santos is still a hit – an even bigger hit, in fact, than it was then.

The modern day Santos is a bold, huge, strong and sturdy luxury watch, that comes with a gold or steel block, an enormous screwed-in bezel with luminous hands. Indeed it is evocative of the original model – it is just a more contemporary version of it. (Why tamper with the classics?)

The one I am most in love with is the Cartier Santos 100, which has a stainless steel case with a band made of black alligator leather. It has a silver dial, a steel octagon crown, mechanical movement, and it is water resistant up to 100 meters.