Cartier unveils a unique skeleton watch

The Cartier Santos 100 Squelette Watch was unveiled at the SIHH 2009. It is a watch unlike the other. Cartier broke watch boundries and delivered and icon. Cartier brings skeleton to a whole new dimension. The skeleton dial and Roman Numerals are integrated in the very framework of the watch.

The watch is cased in Palledium. Palledium is a rare metal. It has a lustrous sivery-white appearance. Palledium is part of a group known as platinum group metals (PGMs) which includes other elements such as platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. These metals share commen chemical properties; however, Palledium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense. It is an excellent material for a watch case as it is incredibly tarnish resistant, resistant to chemical erosion and intense heat.

The Palledium case is 46.5mm x 55mm. The entire movement is visible. Every part is finished and polished to perfection.

The Santos 100 is equipped with the 9611 MC skeleton movement manufactured exclusively by Cartier. This movement is designed for a complete visual thrill whereby nothing is hidden behind a well placed dial. There is no dial to display the time, but the movement itself so the movement becomes the display. The watch is manually wound as an automatic movement will conceal part of the watch. The fascinating aspect of this movement is that its very shape has been designed to include bridges shaped as large Roman Numerals and to utilize the entire space the Palledium case provides. As you can see the watch has two barrels, thus the 9611 MC caliber can reserve sufficient energy for 72 hours. The balance wheel can be seen pulsating at the 7:30 position.

The Santos Watch is named after Santos Dumont who required a watch that could be viewed with convenience while he was flying his plane. Click here to read this truly fascinating story of Santos Dumont and how he popularized the wrist watch.