Cartier Connections: Wings and Skeletons

MTF masterfully uncovers a fascinating historical connection between the iconic Eiffel Tower and the Cartier Santos-Dumont Skeleton watch, highlighting the shared "metal skeleton" aesthetic. This second installment of "Cartier Connections" not only educates readers on the aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont's achievements but also visually links his adventurous spirit to Cartier's horological artistry. The article provides a unique perspective on the inspiration behind one of Cartier's most distinctive designs.

The Fascinating Meanderings of Cartier Connections part 2

What is the connection between this famous tourist landmark.....

and this Cartier watch?.......

The first photo is of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built as a temporary exhibit and entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair. It is still the tallest structure in Paris at 320m, which for our American friends, is 1050 feet or 81-storeys high. Originally, it was only 300m high but still held the world record as tallest man-made structure for 41 years until the Chrysler Building overtook it in 1930. In 1957, they extended the communications spire to the present height.
It is a lattice construction with 4 lattice girders widely spread at the base and coming together at the top; almost like a giant metal skeleton.

The second photo is a close up of the metal skeleton work on a Cartier Santos-Dumont skeleton watch.

The connection between these two metal skeletons is Alberto Santos-Dumont.

Alberto Santos-Dumont was a Brazilian aviation pioneer and friend of Louis Cartier. As the scion of a Brazilian coffee empire, Santos Dumont could afford to indulge in his passion of flight. He was a pioneer of aeronautics and played in the skies above Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life.

His life was literally full of ups and downs as many of his experiments were spectacular successes and failures.

Santos-Dumont designed, built, and flew the first practical dirigible, thus demonstrating that controlled flight was possible. He won the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize on 19 October 1901. This "conquest of the air", involved Dirigible Nr.6 flying from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower, rounding the tower and returning to the start in less than 30 minutes.

The dirigibles and airships became fixed-wing aircraft over the years and culminating in 1906, when Santos-Dumont flew his own design – the '14-bis' or "oiseau de proie" (bird of prey); the first heavier-than-air flight to be certified by the Aéro Club de France and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

Louis Cartier (wearing beret) made the first Cartier wristwatch for his friend in 1904 so he could keep time without having to juggle a pocket watch in a tight cockpit and still keep his hands on the aircraft controls.

In 1911, production versions of the Santos-Dumont wristwatch became available.

1913 Cartier Paris

Soon, it became an aviation engineering technique to 'skeletonise' airframes for lightness and strength, so there is another connection between the pioneer aviator and today's Cartier watch.

Cartier Santos-Dumont Skeleton 2010

Santos-Dumont is honoured in his native Brasil and other countries

By: Dr M.Teillol-Foo