Cartier's iconic Santos watch celebrates its centenary with a new addition to the family: the Santos 100, a reworking of the original. In steel or yellow gold, with black roman numerals and a cool crocodile-leather strap, this masculine yet stylish watch is a fitting tribute to its namesake, Alberto Santos-Dumont. A celebrated aviator, inventor and dandy, the aristocratic Brazilian spent the turn of the 20th century dreaming up flying machines - he made prototypes of gliders, helicopters and planes - and was friends with fellow visionaries Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and jeweller Louis Cartier.
It was at a party in the early 1900s that the pilot asked Cartier if he could come up with an alternative to his fob watch, which he could not read while controlling his hot-air balloons. Cartier obliged and in 1904, with the help of master watchmaker Edmond Jaeger, came up with one of the world's first wristwatches. Like his signature stiff collars, short boots and motoring suits, the timepiece sparked off a craze with its shape, unheard-of leather strap and screwed-down bezel said to resemble the rivets on an aircraft.
The tradition continues with the 100 model, but if you want one you'll have to put your name on the wait-ing list. Priced $30,000 for the steel model and $124,000 for the yellow gold version, they are flying out of Cartier boutiques.