Flip It and Reverse It: Hands-on with the Cartier Santos-Dumont Rewind
One of the most buzzed about releases from Watches & Wonders 2024 was the Cartier Santos-Dumont Rewind watch. Personally one of my favorite watch releases from the brand in recent memory, the Rewind is a classic Santos-Dumont with the whimsical twist of telling the time counterclockwise. Just as languages that are read from right-to-left and top-to-bottom can be disorienting for someone used to left-to-right languages (English, Spanish, French, etc…), the Rewind is universally disorienting in a world where clockwise is the Way Things Are Done.
At first glance, the Rewind appeared to be another lovely Santos Dumont, but a few seconds of studying the gorgeous carnelian dial brought the reversed Roman numeral hour markers into focus. There are a few examples of watches that tell time counterclockwise, the first being the Beuchat “Envers” from 1987, which used a mechanical Ebauches movement and went so far as to not have hour numerals on the dial. There is also the Raketa Russian Code 0216 watch from 2021, which tells the time counterclockwise because of the fact that the planets in our solar system revolve around the sun in this direction. So, while Cartier isn’t the first here, it is certainly the most high profile watchmaker to do a counterclockwise dial.
Done in the large case size, it measures 31.5mm wide and 7.3mm thick with a lug-to-lug height of 43.5mm (30 m of water resistance). The size may sound small on paper but the square shape and broad lugs make for a hefty wrist presence that is about as substantial as you’d want from a dress watch.
The Rewind is characterized by the use of red throughout the dial, case, and strap. The use of this color isn’t entirely without meaning as Cartier reserves the ruby red cabochon crown for watches that are done in platinum. However, the most alluring aspect of the Rewind has to be that stunning carnelian red dial. A semiprecious stone, carnelian can range in color from orange to reds so deep they almost appear black. The stones sourced by Cartier for this watch have an ethereal and smoky quality to them that go from lighter to darker shades of red, with the specific look at any moment depending on the angle and light.
The “apple-shaped” hands are done in rhodium-finished steel and are reminiscent of the original Cartier Santos-Dumont from 1904, and serve to ground this piece’s place in one of the oldest watchmaking collections out there. Taking a look at the case back which has Alberto Santos-Dumont’s signature engraved and filled with red with a mirror view of the signature right below it. The desire to have the Rewind associated with the aviator after whom the collection is named is further underscored in the brand’s own words of “Original and inventive, this limited edition follows in the magical and unprecedented footsteps of the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, for whom anything is possible.”
As for the movement, it’s a simple adjustment to reverse the movement and apply the Roman numerals counterclockwise which is admittedly made easier to execute due to the lack of a seconds hand on the Santos-Dumont. The manual-wind 230 MC is the name given to this inverted 430 MC calibre which still has the operating frequency of 3 Hz and a lackluster 38-hour power reserve.
The Cartier Santos-Dumont Rewind is both fantastically creative and surprisingly under-the-radar, making for one of the most delightful releases from Watches & Wonders 2024. It is limited to just 200 pieces with a price of $38,400.
To learn more, visit Cartier, here.