TIME, FREE AS A BIRD
Both technical and aerial, like the flying machine that carried the famous aviation pioneer into the air, the new watch from the Parisian company comes in three spectacular versions.
Free as a bird with outstretched wings, letting the zephyr carry him along, aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873-1932) discovered the world from the sky aboard his flying machine, the Demoiselle, a single-seater he designed in 1907. He ordered a wristwatch from Louis Cartier (1875-1942), so he could tell the time while flying. The result is a contemporary collection, named after the Franco-Brazilian engineer, and featuring three new references: the Santos-Dumont Squelette, available in yellow gold, rose gold or steel.
Like a warm, stylized sun radiating its graphic navy-lacquered rays, the face of the watch lets the light pass through and caress the miniature reproduction of the Demoiselle flying over a silvered half-globe, a poetic and original interpretation of the micro-rotor. In the center, two sword-shaped blued steel hands display the hours and minutes under the cadence of caliber 9629 MC, a self-winding mechanical movement that took two years to develop. Paced at the gentle frequency of 25,200 vibrations per hour, it delivers nearly two days of power reserve. The large Santos-Dumont Squelette‘s square case with its softened angles imposes generous dimensions (43x31mm), and is accompanied by a screwed bezel and a circular-grained crown punctuated by a blue cabochon. Wrapped in lacquer in the colors of the ocean, it is firmly anchored to the wrist by an ultramarine alligator leather strap and yellow gold pin buckle.
