I’ve loved the aesthetics of the Cartier De Santos for years now, but it really would be a luxury purchase.

I’ve returned two Apple Watches, because they just never grabbed me.

However, I can be extremely impulsive.

I know there is a HUGE difference in price between the two products, and one could even say that I’m comparing apples to oranges, but if you were to try to sell me the Apple Watch (I’d wait for Series 7) what would you say to me/demonstrate to me?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Not much if you don't want it for health reasons, fitness, sleep tracking or just an extension of your iPhone. Mechanical watches are wonderful and serve a different purpose IMO. If your looking for something just to tell time/date I'd rather have a nice mechanical watch for daily use

I agree with @BugeyeSTI. Don't waste your time with another Apple Watch. It doesn't appear to be for you.

I'd skip the Apple Watch too. You've already returned two, I wouldn't expect the S7 to be magically different.

Thank you to everyone for your responses.

I’m no longer into any of my fitness stuff (since the hernia) and I don’t see myself getting back into it.

However, the Cartier De Santos is a £5,600 investment, and I would be going for the smaller size so there won‘t even be a date. Having said that, it is a stunning watch, and my head always turns whenever I see someone wearing one. I think the watch is beautiful.

Thanks again for everyone who took the time to respond (thought I was going to get snarky responses, to be honest!)

By the way, nice to see you, Rob 👍.

If you can get the Cartier, I'd go for that in a heartbeat. I just looked that watch up and it is freaking sweet looking.

DMG35 said:

If you can get the Cartier, I'd go for that in a heartbeat. I just looked that watch up and it is freaking sweet looking.

It’s stunning.

Also comes with a leather strap, but the classic Cartier screw design is the striking one IMO.

The Cartier is a very nice watch. It has an easy way to swap bands. It's also easy adjust the bracelet without tools.

I think they both look fantasic. I myself am partial to the stainless steel band.

Why the heck a Santos, of all luxury watches…. so fugly :-/

Seems you've more or less decided to go for the Cartier already, but being a regrettably pedantic watch nerd, I thought I'd chime in with something to help cement your decision.

The original Santos de Cartier was was personally created by Louis Cartier for his friend, the aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont to make it easy to read time while flying, something which was utterly crucial but very difficult to do at the time.

The Dos Santos is widely considered by many to be the very first men's watch designed to be worn on the wrist ever.

The real history behind who was actually first isn't fully clear, so obviously the true origin of this legacy is unknown (Breguet, Patek & Girard-Perregaux all separately lay claim to the same thing), but the Dos Santos is most certainly the very first Tool Watch that ever existed.

It was a simple train of thought, but one without which we would never have moved on from dainty timepieces & branched out into purpose-built Dive Watches (Rolex Submariner, Blancpain 50 Fathoms, Panerai), Pilot's Watches (Breitling Navitimer, IWC), Chronographs that finally fit on the wrist (the Longines Calibre 13.33Z used by Doctors, the Rolex Daytona & Heuer Watches used by Racers, the Omega Speedmaster used by Astronauts), etc. etc.....the list truly goes on and on and on.

So you are not just buying a wristwatch. You are buying the wristwatch.

Yes, Cartier itself is more luxury & jewelry focused nowadays, but the Dos Santos has arguably the most enviable lineage that exists in horological history.

I think that might give it a slight leg up over the Apple Watch lol.

Pilot Jones said:

I think that might give it a slight leg up over the Apple Watch lol.

How's the accuracy?

Thought so.

Not intending to bash the Cartier at all, but if the basic function of a watch is to tell the time then it would seem that the AW is far better suited in this regard as it's materially more accurate. Not perfect of course, and you could also argue that a watch that can only tell the time for 24 hours before needing a charge is totally hobbled.

Howard2k said:

How's the accuracy?

Thought so.

Not intending to bash the Cartier at all, but if the basic function of a watch is to tell the time then it would seem that the AW is far better suited in this regard as it's materially more accurate. Not perfect of course, and you could also argue that a watch that can only tell the time for 24 hours before needing a charge is totally hobbled.

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I was going to say the exact same thing you ended your post with so no point repeating it. According to that logic, the greatest watch in the world would be a $20 Casio with a 10 year long battery life that won’t skip a second in that whole decade.

That’s obviously not the point here at all.

Aggressively pure utilitarianism can be just as soul-sucking as purposeless opulence.

bricktop_at said:

Why the heck a Santos, of all luxury watches…. so fugly :-/

I think it’s stunning .

I thought I might weigh in as someone who wears and loves both a nice mechanical watch and an Apple Watch (S6), and who (coincidentally) has had two hernia repairs.

Tl;dr: get a Santos, get back into exercise when you can, and then maybe get an Apple Watch.

I say go for the Santos first. For all the reasons @Pilot Jones listed, but also because it speaks to you, and the Apple Watch doesn't. Don't spend hundreds of dollars on a digital paper weight that will become obsolete in a handful of years when what you want is a mechanical classic that never will. I wear my Yacht-Master every day, and I love it as much as the first day I put it on. It's beautiful, functional, timeless, and fun. So is a Santos. If you can afford it, treat yourself to a Santos.

An Apple Watch, on the other hand, isn't timeless and its beauty is subjective, but it's exceptional for what it's for — and for me it's for exercise. I mentioned the two hernias: the second was because I didn't get back into fitness after fixing the first (which was an exercise injury, ironically). I encourage you, dear stranger, to reconsider getting back into fitness, if even just very light stuff (walking a treadmill, yoga, ride a bike, pull-ups/pull-downs, pushups, whatever). Keeping your core toned to a minimal degree will help you to avoid the "pleasure" of another hernia. Trust me. And once you're back into it, you might find you want to wear an Apple Watch to keep track of your workouts, however light. You might also come to find it extremely useful for tracking your health, as I do (heart rate, heart rhythm, activity of any sort, sleep, etc).

I hiked the Grand Canyon last weekend, and I wore my Yacht-Master on my left wrist and my Apple Watch on my right. Did I care how I looked? Not at all. And neither did anyone else. The Apple Watch brought the utility I needed to track my physical condition and my surroundings as well as my progress. But the mechanical watch brings me more than utility: it brings me joy. And that's why I wear it on adventures like the Canyon. One day, my Rolex will be someone else's — a son or daughter if I have any, or my niece if I don't — and all of the stories it holds will be theirs with it; all of the scratches it accumulates will tell them where it's been and what it's for. No one will inherit an Apple Watch.

Get your Santos. Love it. Wear it. Scratch it. Live in it. And then pass that living on to someone else when you're done with it.

WillHamilton said:

I thought I might weigh in as someone who wears and loves both a nice mechanical watch and an Apple Watch (S6), and who (coincidentally) has had two hernia repairs.

Tl;dr: get a Santos, get back into exercise when you can, and then maybe get an Apple Watch.

I say go for the Santos first. For all the reasons @Pilot Jones listed, but also because it speaks to you, and the Apple Watch doesn't. Don't spend hundreds of dollars on a digital paper weight that will become obsolete in a handful of years when what you want is a mechanical classic that never will. I wear my Yacht-Master every day, and I love it as much as the first day I put it on. It's beautiful, functional, timeless, and fun. So is a Santos. If you can afford it, treat yourself to a Santos.

An Apple Watch, on the other hand, isn't timeless and its beauty is subjective, but it's exceptional for what it's for — and for me it's for exercise. I mentioned the two hernias: the second was because I didn't get back into fitness after fixing the first (which was an exercise injury, ironically). I encourage you, dear stranger, to reconsider getting back into fitness, if even just very light stuff (walking a treadmill, yoga, ride a bike, pull-ups/pull-downs, pushups, whatever). Keeping your core toned to a minimal degree will help you to avoid the "pleasure" of another hernia. Trust me. And once you're back into it, you might find you want to wear an Apple Watch to keep track of your workouts, however light. You might also come to find it extremely useful for tracking your health, as I do (heart rate, heart rhythm, activity of any sort, sleep, etc).

I hiked the Grand Canyon last weekend, and I wore my Yacht-Master on my left wrist and my Apple Watch on my right. Did I care how I looked? Not at all. And neither did anyone else. The Apple Watch brought the utility I needed to track my physical condition and my surroundings as well as my progress. But the mechanical watch brings me more than utility: it brings me joy. And that's why I wear it on adventures like the Canyon. One day, my Rolex will be someone else's — a son or daughter if I have any, or my niece if I don't — and all of the stories it holds will be theirs with it; all of the scratches it accumulates will tell them where it's been and what it's for. No one will inherit an Apple Watch.

Get your Santos. Love it. Wear it. Scratch it. Live in it. And then pass that living on to someone else when you're done with it.

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Such a beautiful response, Will.

Thank you so much for taking the time to pour your heart out.

I think I’m going to take your advice!

Wishing you well: Keep up with the great work 👍.