Cartier Santos Dumont Large WSSA0085

Overview In 1904, Louis Cartier made a wristwatch for Alberto Santos-Dumont specifically because a pocket watch was impractical in an aircraft — Santos-Dumont needed to read the time without taking his hands off the controls. The WSSA0085 is the current Santos-Dumont Large, the ultra-thin expression of that original brief. Over a century later, the case is still square, the exposed screws are still present, and the watch is still designed around the constraint of wearing it rather than admiring it. The case is 43.5mm x 31.4mm stainless steel — a rectangular footprint that wears long and flat on the wrist. The ultra-thin profile is the direct result of a quartz calibre: a self-winding movement at this case geometry would add thickness that contradicts the Santos-Dumont's design brief entirely. The square bezel with exposed screws is the visual signature of the Santos line, unchanged since Cartier commercialised the original 1904 design in 1978. The silver sunburst dial carries bold black Roman numerals, a rail-track minute scale, and blued steel sword-shaped hands — Cartier's design vocabulary at its most restrained, with nothing present beyond function and proportion. The blue alligator strap is colour-matched to the blued steel hands, a pairing that reads as deliberate without being decorative. Together, the dial and strap produce a cool, contained palette suited to formal tailoring without demanding it. Within the Santos family, the Santos-Dumont occupies the slimmest and most formal position — the Santos de Cartier runs an automatic and suits everyday sports-dress wear, while the Santos-Dumont is built specifically for occasions where the watch must sit flat beneath a cuff. The quartz is the honest choice for this use case: it keeps the profile below what any automatic can achieve at this price point, and for a watch worn at formal occasions rather than rotated daily, its accuracy and low-maintenance character are advantages rather than compromises. We see the WSSA0085 as the clear entry into Cartier's formal segment for a buyer who understands the difference between a complicated mechanical piece and one designed purely around how it wears. Brand new, unworn, complete with box and papers dated June 2026, at RM18,100. Specifications Brand : Cartier Model Name : Santos Dumont Large Reference : WSSA0085 Material Steel Movement : Cartier Quartz Case Diameter : 43.5 mm x 31.4 mm Bracelet / Strap : Stainless Steel Features : 30m depth rating Condition Brand New, Unworn Condition, Complete Original Set with Box and Papers dated June 2026. Warranty Eligible for 8 year manufacturers warranty.