Cartier Santos Massive in Inexperienced

Borna Bošnjak

There are these watches that want little or no when it comes to introductions and contextualising. Cartier’s Santos is definitely a type of, whether or not that’s in its most elegant Santos-Dumont kind, or the marginally sporty Santos de Cartier. The latter, in its recent Watches & Wonders 2023 inexperienced dial variant, is the mannequin I bought to spend a while with lately, culminating in curious conclusions – some anticipated, others not a lot. I ought to preface this by saying that I’m personally not the largest Santos fan, as I a lot favor the extra slender form of the Santos-Dumont. Once I realised that I’d be studying to get on with the Massive mannequin, I used to be much more sceptical. With out spoiling an excessive amount of, my scepticism wasn’t completely warranted, as each facet of the watch shocked me not directly.

Chameleonic Santos inexperienced

The dial was a type of shocking revelations, as I didn’t anticipate the Santos to be as dynamic as it’s. With this, an image actually is value a thousand phrases. In a lot of the lighting I discovered myself in, the dial appeared this metallic sunburst gray, with flashes of inexperienced right here and there. On the entire opposite, the watch shone in emerald in our imagery shot at Watches & Wonders. The best factor is, this isn’t only a white steadiness factor in my digital camera settings – the Santos really does show these variations in particular person, too.

As for different dial options, it’s a fairly customary Cartier affair: Roman numerals all-round, as you’d anticipate, with a framed and bevelled date window nestling in at 6 o’clock. The date wheel isn’t fairly colour-matched to the inexperienced, slightly attempting to mix in with the black the dial slowly transitions into. In any case, it’s not an obtrusive design, although I do assume the no-date, smaller variants get the dial proportions down even higher.

Tough proportions

On paper, a watch that measures in at just below 40mm in width and 47.5mm lug-to-lug could appear completely cheap and not likely in step with the mannequin’s Massive moniker. One should keep in mind, nevertheless, that the Santos is a sq. watch, and as such wears a lot bigger than these dimensions counsel. For reference, my wrist is someplace round 6.15in/15.5cm in circumference, and the Santos simply matches inside parameters I’d be comfy with in any watch.

The broad polished bezel with its eight screws provides to the watch’s presence, because it extends all the way in which to the bracelet, rising its perceived measurement. The identical will be mentioned concerning the stubby lugs that widen to kind the remainder of the mid-case, with a splendidly executed little bit of sharpening that separates the brushed prime floor and case sides. One other shock was simply how slender this watch is, coming in at 9.4mm whereas retaining 10 bar of water resistance. It’s not a sports activities watch per se however ought to nonetheless be able to heading off any splashings of champagne or shock dips into your Hampton villa’s pool. Not less than that’s what I believe Cartier Santos homeowners rise up to on the each day.

It transforms on the leather-based strap

The place the Santos de Cartier Inexperienced actually got here alive, no less than in my expertise, was on the provided alligator leather-based strap. Aided by the easy quick-release system that made strap altering a breeze, I spent most of my time sporting the Santos like this. There was fairly a major strap overlap when closed, courtesy of my Small Wrist Gang® membership, although it didn’t add an excessive amount of further bulk – the identical goes with the signature Cartier-shaped deployant clasp.

It’s blasphemous, I do know, saying that I favor the Santos on a leather-based strap versus its near-iconic bracelet. The actual fact of the matter is that I’m positive I might a lot favor the watch on the bracelet in one in all its smaller variants. With it on my 6.15in/15.5cm wrist, the Santos de Cartier Massive looks like a giant cuff, even with the nice bracelet taper, to the purpose the place it wore just like an built-in bracelet sports activities watch. The screwed hyperlinks and spring-loaded pins for adjustment are straightforward to make use of, and the bracelet is completed with a comparatively seamless butterfly clasp. As with every related fashion of clasp, nevertheless, there aren’t any micro-adjusts, which suggests you’ll should hope the match is excellent with the offered hyperlinks.

Closing ideas

So, was my scepticism of the Massive measurement warranted? In probably the most non-interesting, non-conclusive conclusion conceivable, all I can say is – sure and no. The scale is certainly too massive for my preferences, although it not at all seemed outsized, particularly when paired with the leather-based strap. The case end is top-notch, as you’d anticipate from a watch like this, and that dial is simply beautiful. You’ll have seen that I haven’t spoken of the motion but. The 1847 MC that powers the Santos de Cartier Massive is hidden behind a stable caseback, sporting an computerized winding rotor and a dual-sided steadiness bridge, assumingly for superior shock safety. It’s embellished with closely textured Geneva striping, although its most spectacular function is its peak. Measuring in at solely 3.8mm, it helps the Santos obtain its sub-10mm thickness, which massively helps the sporting expertise. For lots of parents, the motion isn’t the first consideration when shopping for a Cartier, and whereas the 1847 MC is not at all a nasty motion, I doubt it’ll sway many buying selections.

To sum all of it up, the brand new Massive, green-dialled Cartier Santos confirmed my suspicions of preferring the medium measurement, on the similar time fully catching me off-guard with its colour-changing dial and comfortably slender sporting expertise on the leather-based strap.

Cartier Santos de Cartier Massive inexperienced dial pricing and availability

The Santos de Cartier Massive in inexperienced is available now from Cartier. Value: A$12,200, US$7,750