The Cartier Santos has a decent claim to being the first purpose-built men’s wristwatch. Louis Cartier made it in 1904 for his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, the Brazilian aviator, who needed to read the time while flying without taking his hands off the controls. The square case and exposed screws have been there ever since.
It is the most distinctive shape in this collection and the one that looks least like everything else. For a buyer who wants a recognisable luxury watch that is not another round steel sports model, it is usually the answer.
From the airfield to the wrist: a history of the Cartier Santos
Santos-Dumont was one of the best-known figures of early aviation in Paris, and a pocket watch was no use to a man flying an open machine with both hands busy. Cartier’s answer was a square case with softened corners, worn on a leather strap, with a bezel fixed by visible screws. For a Parisian jeweller at the start of the twentieth century, that industrial detail was a striking choice.
Cartier began selling the Santos to the public in 1911. In 1978 it reinvented the watch as a sports model in steel and gold, carrying the screws across onto the bracelet, and that two-tone Santos de Cartier became one of the most recognisable watches of the 1980s.
A centenary model, the Santos 100, followed in 2004 with a larger case. Then in 2018 Cartier relaunched the line with a reworked case, the in-house automatic calibre 1847 MC, and the QuickSwitch and SmartLink systems that make the modern Cartier Santos so easy to live with. Alongside it sits the Santos-Dumont, a slimmer and dressier interpretation of the 1904 original.
What to know when buying a pre-owned Santos
QuickSwitch and SmartLink are worth having. Recent Santos models let you change the strap without tools and adjust the bracelet length by hand. If you expect to alternate between bracelet and leather, look for these.
Two sizes. The Santos comes in large and medium, and the difference is meaningful. The square case reads bigger on the wrist than a round case of the same width.
Check the screws. The exposed bezel screws are a defining feature and they show wear from careless servicing. Rounded or burred slots suggest the watch has been opened by someone who should not have been opening it.
Steel, two-tone and gold all behave differently. The steel Santos is the volume model and the easiest to resell; two-tone and solid gold are more personal and sit in a narrower market.
Cartier Santos models and sizes
The Santos family is simpler than most once you know its branches. The sports Santos de Cartier comes in two sizes, the Santos-Dumont is the dress line, and older generations such as the Santos 100 still turn up pre-owned. The table shows how they compare, and the Cartier website lists the models in the current collection.
| Model | Case | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Santos de Cartier, large | About 40mm wide | The everyday sports Santos, usually on a bracelet |
| Santos de Cartier, medium | About 35mm wide | The same design in a smaller case |
| Santos-Dumont | Slim case | The dress line, closest in spirit to 1904 |
| Santos 100 | Larger case | The 2004 centenary model |
Steel models in the current line carry references beginning WSSA. The large steel version with a silver dial, WSSA0018, is the one many people picture when they think of the modern Cartier Santos, while blue and green dials such as those shown above add more colour. Every listing gives the full reference so you can see exactly which watch you are looking at.
Steel, two-tone or gold
Steel is the everyday choice and the easiest to wear with anything. Two-tone, steel with gold screws and accents, is the version that most directly echoes the 1978 Santos, and it carries a confident, slightly retro charm. Solid gold turns the Cartier Santos into a dress watch with real weight on the wrist, best suited to someone who already knows they love the shape.
Whichever metal you choose, the brushed and polished surfaces need to stay crisp. Gold is softer than steel and marks more readily, so look closely at the bracelet edges and the bezel on a gold piece, and expect a little honest wear on any watch that has actually been worn.
What affects the price of a pre-owned Cartier Santos
Several things move the price of an individual watch, and none of them is mysterious. The generation matters, because post-2018 models with QuickSwitch and SmartLink are the most practical to own. Size, metal and dial colour come next, followed by the completeness of the set and the condition of the case, bracelet and screws.
Service history plays a part as well. A Cartier Santos that has been serviced sympathetically, with the finishing left intact, is a better proposition than one that has been heavily polished. We explain these factors for each watch we offer, so you can see why one example differs from another.
QuickSwitch, SmartLink and the bracelet
QuickSwitch lets you release the bracelet or strap from the case by pressing a small button underneath, then click another one into place, all without tools. It turns a single Cartier Santos into two quite different watches: polished and sporty on steel, softer and dressier on leather.
SmartLink does the same for sizing. Push-buttons on the inside of the links let you remove or add links by hand, so you can adjust the fit at home rather than needing a jeweller. On a pre-owned watch, check that both systems work smoothly and ask whether a second strap or any spare links come with it.
If your Cartier Santos comes with a leather strap as well as the bracelet, store the spare flat and out of direct sunlight. Leather lasts far longer when it is rested between wears, and a fresh strap is an easy way to change the look of the watch.
Is a Cartier Santos right for you?
The Santos sits between categories. It is sporty enough for weekends and holidays, especially on its bracelet, yet the square case and Roman numerals make it feel at home with a suit in a way few steel sports watches manage. If your current watch is round, the change of shape alone makes it feel like a genuinely different object.
The case is also slimmer than many of the steel sports watches buyers compare it with, which makes it comfortable from morning to night. It also slips under a cuff easily, something buyers moving from a chunkier diver’s watch tend to notice straight away. If you are weighing it against a Rolex or a Royal Oak, our guide to every model we focus on sets the options out side by side.
Condition, box and papers
A Cartier Santos is straightforward to assess, but the details matter. Every listing on our site states whether the watch comes with its box and papers, and these are the points our specialists look at before a watch is offered:
- Bezel screws with clean, undamaged slots
- Crisp lines between brushed and polished surfaces on the case and bracelet
- QuickSwitch and SmartLink buttons that operate freely
- A crown and blue stone that are intact and undamaged
- A warranty card or certificate whose serial number matches the case
- Any service history, with dates and receipts
A complete set, with the box, papers and any extra strap or links, is reassuring for you and for whoever owns the watch next. Our box and papers guide explains what each item proves and why it matters at resale.
Buying from Kings & Queens
- Inspected and authenticatedEvery watch is checked by experienced specialists, with serial numbers and components verified before it is offered.
- 12-month warrantyPre-owned pieces carry a 12-month warranty against movement defects. Unworn watches carry the manufacturer's own cover.
- Fully insured deliveryFree, fully insured and signed-for delivery across the UK.
- 14-day returnsFourteen days to change your mind from the day your watch arrives. We cover the return postage.
We are a specialist dealer in Hatton Garden, London. Any Santos in our stock can be seen in person by appointment, and if you would like to think it over, a £100 deposit reserves it for three working days.
Every Cartier Santos we sell is inspected and authenticated by experienced watch specialists before it is listed, with its serial number, bracelet number, movement identifiers and case markings recorded. Unless the listing says otherwise, the watch is held in our own stock, so it can be inspected before it leaves us.
Pre-owned watches carry our 12-month mechanical warranty from delivery unless the listing says otherwise, and where a watch is still inside Cartier’s warranty, Cartier’s terms apply. UK delivery is free, insured and signed for, prepared within two to three working days of payment clearing and tracked once dispatched. If the watch is not right, you have 14 days to return it for a full refund; see our returns and refunds page.
The deposit is non-refundable, though on request it can be put towards another watch as store credit. Part exchange is welcome too: the value of your current watch comes off the price of the Santos in a single transaction, and if your watch is worth more, we pay you the difference.
To protect against fraud, we sometimes verify identity or payment before a watch leaves us, and deliveries go only to verified addresses. If the size, dial or metal you want is not in stock, we source specific watches for clients on request.
Trying a Cartier Santos on in Hatton Garden
Shape is personal, and a square watch is the hardest kind to judge from a photograph. Our showroom at 9 St. Cross Street, Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8UB is a short walk from both Farringdon and Chancery Lane, and viewings are private, so you can try the large and medium Cartier Santos one after the other at your own pace.
We open from 10:30am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday and from 12:00pm to 4:30pm on Saturday. If you are buying for someone else, bring a watch they already wear and we can help you judge the size.
Servicing and caring for a Cartier Santos
Alpha Group, our sister business in the same building, handles watch servicing, repairs and restoration. On a Santos, the visible screws make careful work essential, because any slip with a screwdriver shows. A sympathetic service keeps the slots clean and the case finishing sharp.
At home, clean the bracelet occasionally with a soft brush, keep the QuickSwitch mechanism free of grit, and store the watch away from harder pieces. If you swap between strap and bracelet often, check each time that the new one has clicked fully into place before you put the watch on.
Common questions
Is the Santos a men’s or women’s watch?
Both, genuinely. The large size is generally bought by men and the medium by women, but plenty of customers cross over. It is one of the easiest watches in the collection to buy for someone else.
Does Cartier hold value as well as Rolex?
Generally not to the same degree, and we would rather say so. Cartier is bought for design more than for investment. The Santos and Tank hold up better than most of the range.
Can I see one alongside other models?
Yes, and we would encourage it. The Santos feels very different on the wrist to a round watch, and fifteen minutes in the showroom settles the question quickly.
What do QuickSwitch and SmartLink actually do on a Cartier Santos?
QuickSwitch lets you swap the bracelet for a strap without tools, and SmartLink lets you add or remove bracelet links by hand. Together they make the modern Santos very easy to adjust and personalise.
Which Cartier Santos size should I choose?
Most men suit the large, which is about 40mm wide, and many women prefer the medium. Because the square case wears bigger than a round one, try both if you can; the right size is usually obvious within a minute.
Is the Santos-Dumont the same as the Cartier Santos?
It is part of the same family but a different watch. The Santos-Dumont is slimmer, usually on a leather strap and closer to the 1904 original, while the Santos de Cartier is the sportier model with a bracelet.
Do you buy Cartier watches?
Yes. We buy directly for our own stock, with a free valuation and no commission. See our Cartier selling page to get started.
Kings & Queens Watches is an independent dealer and is not affiliated with Cartier. Model names and reference numbers are used only to describe the Santos watches we sell.