1970s Cartier Santos-Dumont Paris 18K YG

The Cartier name is synonymous with luxury and has been since the brand's inception in 1847. Offering bespoke and unique jewelry to the world’s elite allowed Cartier to steadily grow through the 19th century and eventually introduced new offerings to their clientele. Cartier’s first timepiece was actually the world's first aviation watch and was introduced in 1904, only a year after the wright brothers' famous first flight in 1903. The inspiration for this timepiece came from Louis-Francois Cartier’s close friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, an early Brazilian pioneer in aviation, after becoming frustrated using a pocket watch to time his flights, which during this time were under a minute. The Santos-Dumont hit Cartier's showrooms in 1911 with a Jaeger-LeCoultre movement and introduced the rest of the world to the iconic art deco design that today, remains only slightly changed.