With the early aviation industry growing at unprecedented rates, one pioneering Brazilian aviator saw the need for a particular kind of tool - a pilot’s watch. So, this aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont, went to Louis Cartier in 1904 and asked him to design a watch fit for flight. This watch became the Cartier Santos Dumont, the very first tool watch. Evolving through time as an extensive array of wonderful models, the Santos Dumont has become one of watchmaking’s most iconic designs, and is famed for creating the humble wristwatch as we know it. Offered here we have a Santos Dumont ref. 96053 from the 1980s that takes the Santos’ iconic design and packages it into a dense 23mm diameter package of 18kt yellow gold. Boasting an angular case with its distinctive bezel and Cartier’s signature dial design, this timepiece showcases Cartier’s impressive ability to create timeless designs, as evidenced by how popular the Santos and all of its subsequent sibling models continue to be in the modern age of watchmaking as we know it.

Watch is in excellent overall condition. Case shows mild patina and some small marks and scratches along the case sides. The upper lug bar has a damaged screw head as seen in the images. It can still be manipulated and adjusted with a screwdriver. The dial is in near-mint condition with little to no signs of wear. Watch comes on a generic strap wtih a plated Cartier buckle.

Imbued with Cartier's iconic design and its own heritage as the world's first tool watch, the Santos Dumont is important as the timepiece that set the entire industry as we know it today into motion.