2656, SANTOS 100 XL, SILVER DIAL

A Cartier Santos 100 XL, ref. 2656, in stainless steel. The square case measures 41.3mm by 51.1mm, its bezel set with the exposed screws that have defined the Santos for more than a century. The silver dial carries Roman numerals, a railway minute track and blued sword hands. The crown is capped with a cabochon and protected by guards built into the case. Inside is the automatic Cartier calibre 049. It is worn on an alligator strap, with the lugs flowing into the case in one continuous shape.

In 1904, Louis Cartier made a wristwatch for his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, the Brazilian aviator who needed to read the time without letting go of his controls. That watch, with its square case and exposed screws, became one of the first purpose-built men's wristwatches, at a time when most men still carried pocket watches. Cartier put the Santos into general production in 1911. A century after the original, in 2004, Cartier released the Santos 100 to mark the anniversary, with a larger and bolder case. The XL took that further still. It is a modern reading of one of the founding ideas of the wristwatch.

We sourced it for the screws. They sit exposed on the bezel, a detail Louis Cartier put there in 1904, and they still make the Santos recognisable from across a room. Most watches hide their construction. The Santos puts it on display and turns it into design. Then come the blued hands on the silver dial, the Roman numerals, and the curve of the lugs into the strap. In XL size, the Santos 100 has a presence that the smaller versions trade for subtlety. Curated with intent.