GLOW UP

Matte titanium presents a new, exciting vision for the Cartier Santos

- text and photos by Zen Love

—On paper, the 2025 Cartier Santos might seem like merely the latest variant of a familiar model.

The shape, the iconic traits, the dimensions, the specs—they’re all basically what you know. The difference of rendering it in full titanium with a matte finish, though? It changes everything.

Such a material and execution combined with Cartier’s persona was far from obvious. One is associated with the likes of rugged and technical tool watches while the other is synonymous with elegance and high shine. It could have clashed. But Cartier managed to make the coolness of titanium its own.

In doing so, it arrived at an interpretation of its famous pilot watch that’s novel but somehow speaks to the core of its character better than ever. It also places the over-120-year-old model among the freshest of the modern ‘sports-chic’ hype crowd. The use of bead-blasted titanium is somewhat outside Cartier’s established codes, but the result here is so on point that it raises the idea of an exciting new vision for the Santos.

Seeing the Cartier Santos Titanium at a preview event in New York, it immediately struck me as a big deal for the brand and the watch-collecting world. The buzz around its release, however, was also accompanied by comments regarding size and concerns about scratch resistance. This review will address both, but the takeaway is that this reimagining of the Santos brings out its history and personality in the best, sportiest and, we dare say, the most Cartier way possible.

Elementary