buckle. Though Patek Phillip invented the wristwatch, women mainly wore it until Santos made the wristwatch a man’s watch, achieving another first. During this time, Santos upgraded his aircraft to the monoplane Demoiselle (Damselfly), which he built and mass-produced in Types numbered sequentially 19 through 22. In 1908, the No. 19 aircraft was the first commercially produced plane. It had a wooden prop, an open framework fuselage, and eventually a choice of three engines. Alberto could construct the plane in fifteen days, and in 1909, it gave its pilot 120km/h for the asking. The June 1910 edition of the Popular Mechanics magazine displayed drawings of the Demoiselle and boasted, “This machine is better than any other which has ever been built, for those who wish to reach results with the least possible expense and with a minimum of experimenting.” Cartier with his watch and Alberto Santos-Dumont with his planes heralded the golden age of aviation.
Louis Cartier collaborated with movement maker Edmond Jaeger to mass-produce the Santos watch, which bore the adventurer’s name and first went on sale in 1911. The watch was a success. The watch climate, however, would change. During WW2, the military specified round watches for service, and square watches began a decline that persists today, but the Santos had staying power and remained a Cartier signature product. The Santos watches are timeless classics. With the 1978 Santos, Cartier deviated from using precious metals and delivered an affordable steel/gold watch, followed by an all-steel watch, and the public responded. Once again, Cartier supplied the watch to the masses, especially young people, and the stainless-steel Santos became an “It” watch for its time. Notice the plate bezel attached with tiny screws, which became an enduring feature, yet the original Santos DNA still predominates.