So what makes an aviator watch? As compared to diver’s watch, aviator watches don’t have a specific attribute. All of them need a way to tell time efficiently and a wrist watch was and still is the best way to do that. It all spawned from the requirement of these professions (aviators/pilots, divers and army men). If we looked at the history of aviator watch as well as other types of watches such as dive watch and military watch, we can see a similarity between them. Till today, the Cartier Santos is still famous not just for its historical background but also its unique square case shape. Thus, the idea of making an aviator watch that’s strapped to the wrist came from this conversation.Ĭartier would then named the watch Cartier Santos, as commemoration of Santos-Dumont’s achievements (it also worked as great publicity as he was very famous at that time). And for an aviator, that moment of carelessness could be very dangerous. It’s akin to smartphones nowadays in which we had to open it and unlock it to see time. He had to keep both hands on the steering wheel or had to check lots of things while in flight and pocket watches are just too hard to use. The story of the first aviator watch began when Santos-Dumont complained to his friend, Louis Cartier about the difficulty of using pocket watches while flying. (though it has to be noted that the Wright brothers had already invented their own flying machine in the US at that time).Ī depiction of Santos-Dumont flying his 14-Bis aircraft in 1906 He then went on to create heavier-than-air crafts (or simply the modern airplanes), the first invention of such kind in Europe Winning the competition marked a very important milestone in aviation history as at last, the first fully functional airship had been invented. He won the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize, a competition for the first machine capable of flying return trip between Parc Saint Cloud and Eiffel Tower in less than 30 minutes using his No.6 Airship. 6” won the prestigious Deutsch de la Meurthe prize in 1901 He was borned in Brazil but spent many years of his adult life in Paris researching and inventing aircrafts. The Santos in the watch’s name is after Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian aeronautical inventor that’s contributed greatly to the development of hot air balloons, airships (or dirigible balloon) and airplanes. As all of you might have known, this is a watch from Cartier, the watch and jewelry maker from Paris.īut what is the story about the Cartier Santos? What’s Santos?Īlberto Santos-Dumont – the Brazilian aeronautical inventor which played a significant role in aviator watch history It is commonly agreed that the first aviator watch is the Cartier Santos. History of Aviator Watch And Alberto Santos-Dumont In this article, I’m going to unravel what is an aviator watch, it’s history, it’s characteristics and prominent brands of this particular segment in the family of modern wrist watches. Just like dive watches and military watches, pilot watches are also used by the normal non-pilot masses. It’s quite simply a watch that pilot uses but that’s not just the case anymore. Another thing also began to gain fame, and that is the aviator watch (or aviation/pilot watch).īreitling Navitimer, the poster child of an aviator watch in the current age. Since the start of aviation at the beginning of last century, it’s not just airplanes that begin to take off.
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