There is a short list of vintage Cartier dials that collectors genuinely chase. The burgundy Santos Carrée is on that list — and near the top of it.
This dial was created to celebrate the Santos’s 75th anniversary in 1979 — a lacquer finish in deep red, paired with a matching ruby cabochon crown, one of very few Santos variants to carry no Roman numerals anywhere on its face. Just the Cartier signature, a date window, and that extraordinary colour. Looking at it straight on, it reads almost black. Tilt it toward the light and it opens into a deep, saturated crimson — the kind of colour that has no business being this compelling on a sports watch.
These lacquer dials are known to develop fine spider cracks over time, and finding one that has survived intact is genuinely rare. This example is clean. No cracking, no damage, no service replacement. The dial reads “Swiss” — exactly as it should on an original — and the gold hands remain sharp and unoxidised against that dark lacquer surface.
The case is the two-tone Carrée configuration — stainless steel with a yellow gold bezel and matching gold screws running through both the case and integrated bracelet. The Santos Carrée, with its boxier case than the Galbée, became one of the defining watches of the 1980s. The exposed screws, the angular geometry, the raised polished bezel — it is as much jewellery as it is sports watch, and the two-tone execution sits precisely at that intersection. The case measures 29mm × 41mm and wears with surprising presence on the wrist for those dimensions.
The integrated bracelet carries the same steel-and-gold screw motif throughout, closing with Cartier’s period Double C folding clasp — well-functioning and showing appropriate age without damage. The crown is fitted with its original ruby cabochon, echoing the dial’s colour in miniature on the side of the case.
Inside runs the Cartier calibre 077, derived from the ETA 2671 — a reliable, self-winding movement with approximately 42 hours of power reserve. The caseback is engraved “Santos de Cartier / Automatique / Swiss Made”, crisp and well-defined.
Sometimes there are two or three burgundy Santos Carrées on the market. Sometimes there are none. When one appears at Lorièn Watches in Amsterdam in this condition — two-tone, original lacquer intact, ruby cabochon matched — you pay attention.
Specifications
- Reference: 2960
- Year: Circa 1980s
- Case dimensions: 29mm × 41mm
- Case material: Stainless steel with yellow gold bezel
- Dial: Burgundy red lacquer, “Swiss” signed, original
- Crystal: Sapphire
- Crown: Ruby cabochon
- Movement: Cartier calibre 077 (ETA 2671), automatic, 42h power reserve
- Bracelet: Integrated steel and yellow gold with Double C folding clasp
- Condition: Unpolished, original lacquer dial without cracking
Available exclusively through Lorièn Watches, Amsterdam.
