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The Atlas watch

Celebrating history and the future with one watch.

By Life & Muse

May 17^th, 2020

In 1904, a Brazilian inventor named Alberto Santos-Dumont had a small problem. Santos-Dumont was one of the world’s first aviation pioneers, and had dedicated much of his early career to designing, building, and flying hot air balloons and other lighter-than-air dirigibles. Inevitably, he found his focus shifting to heavier-than-air aircrafts, hot off the tails of the Wright brothers’ first flight in 1901. It was then that he’d help to begin defining the reality of human flight as we know it today.

But back to his problem. You see, keeping time was an essential part of his aeronautical adventures. However, pulling out his pocket watch to check the time constantly was both an inconvenience and a distraction to the intense precision and attention needed to fly safely. And so, Santos-Dumont, who had spent much of his life in Paris, turned to his good friend Louis Cartier to help him fashion a solution.

Enter the Cartier Santos, credited with being not only one of the world’s earliest men's wrist watches, but also the first pilot’s watch ever. Today, pilot’s watches have evolved drastically to support more advanced tooling, but the Santos’ squared profile, exposed screws, and chamfered edges still harken back to its origins with a sort of industrious elegance.

No joke, during the 9 months of Hanna’s pregnancy, I spent a good chunk of my brain space debating what watch I would get to commemorate this incredibly special milestone. And when I came across the story behind the Cartier Santos, everything clicked.

“As for your name — we hope you’ll see the world with it. It represents the unpredictable journey that led your mother and I to find each other (and inevitably you) and it’s a warming reminder that sometimes life’s greatest joys are the ones you couldn’t have seen from afar.”

– Dear Atlas

We named our daughter Atlas in the hopeful spirit that she’d explore the world, broaden her perspective, and be inspired by the vast beauty found beyond her own locale. The worldliness of the name also celebrates the unique adventures that have been formative ingredients to who Hanna and I have become. So to find a watch that is rooted in the history of world exploration seemed almost too good to be true.

The Santos was first released to the public in 1911, and has since gone through a handful of iterations over the decades without departing too far from its original design dna. In 2018, over a century after its first debut, Cartier introduced a new Santos lineup that evolved its flagship design language subtly while giving it a modern polish.

Amongst the new variety of sizes and finishes, I opted for the large in classic stainless steel. Admittedly, this felt like the best way to reconcile my personal taste with my attempted foresight into what Atlas would one day wear. Cartier also went the extra mile to ensure receipts and certificates were dated to match the date of her birth.

When I first received the watch, I naturally wore it with the included black alligator strap, which was a little more aligned with my daily aesthetic. I also liked how the soft leather added a stylish contrast to the steel finishes of the case.

Thankfully, the new Santos makes swapping between straps and bracelets a 30 second (and tool-free!) experience. This was especially great because, as I got better acquainted with fatherhood, I realized there was a practicality to stainless steel that leather couldn’t offer: it was simply more suitable for everyday messes.

And every day, there were indeed many messes. From diapers, to spit ups, to bottles, keeping my Santos on the bracelet meant I didn’t have to think twice about whether to take my watch off before getting my hands, ahem, dirty. Plus, there’s a versatility to stainless steel that lets it be dressed up or down. Though these days, it’s definitely much more of the latter. And yes, it goes great with sweatpants.

Of course, what makes the Santos truly iconic are all the details that have stayed true through time: the classic roman numerals on the dial, the stunning blue steel hands, the even more radiant blue sapphire crown, and my absolute favorite, the hidden signature at 7 o’clock.

For all its history, I couldn’t have thought of a better milestone watch to celebrate Atlas’ future. Today, the Santos has become my everyday watch and certainly the prettiest part of my quarantine uniform. Someday in the future, I’ll look forward to passing it onto Atlas to let her continue its legacy. I hope it’ll keep her company wherever her adventures take her.