Santos De Cartier 2022 (in Blue PVD) Watch Review

The Santos de Cartier is a watch that I’ve always been aware of, particularly in the context of red carpets and celebrities like Tom Hiddleston donning the skeleton version of it. However, when push comes to shove, it’s always been overshadowed in my mind by the Tank. Or at least that was the case until I opened the box containing the new Santos de Cartier 2022 which now comes with a new blue PVD bezel. They really highlight the Santos’ sportiness, which give it an appeal outside of its Art Deco styling.

There are two watches in this novelties collection and side by side they make for a fun two-watch collection. They both have 47.5mm x 39.8mm cases in steel with a stepped steel bezel with blue PVD coating. For decoration, the bezels are engraved with horizontal grooves that catch the light wonderfully.

The bezel features six screws in an industrial twang in the same vein as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak or Hublot Big Bang. However, I think it’s only fair to mention that one of my pet peeves of the Big Bang is that the lines of the screws aren’t perfectly aligned whereas they are on the Royal Oak. Unfortunately, it’s also the case that the screws aren’t lined up on the Santos, which would be just that extra degree of detail and finishing to help push it up to the next level of finesse.

But that’s easy to forgive once you look at the dials, which are excellent. They’re the perfect combination of Art Deco, geometric patterns woven together. The centre of the dial is a horizontally lined square around which is the classic Cartier minute track. Then there’s a peripheral hour scale consisting of elegant, elongated Roman numerals with a date window taking the place of 6 o’clock. One of the two has a white dial with blue accents and the second has a blue dial with steel tone accents.

The colours pair really well with the duo of strap and bracelet options they come with. The steel bracelet naturally goes with the steel case very well but the blue rubber strap really enhances the bezel. Thanks to the easy to use quick change system, you can swap from one to the other at short notice to match the occasion or your preference. For my money, the best combination is the white dial model with the blue strap.

Both of the Santos de Cartier Novelties 2022 house the automatic movement 1847 MC, a calibre widely used by Cartier across many of their collections. It’s nothing too crazy with a power reserve of 42-hours, which is fine albeit not exceptional.

The new Santos de Cartier 2022 models are Cartiers for all occasions. They’re not so refined as the precious metal models and the dual colours give them a sportiness that emphasises the DNA of the collection. They’re contemporary enough to almost forget they’re based on the OG pilot’s watch.