page transition image
Skip to content

Cart

Your cart is empty

Cartier Santos XL 2656 – White Roman Dial

Details

Here's a Cartier Santos XL reference 2656 automatic with a white Roman numeral dial and a 40mm stainless steel case from the 2000s. Fitted on its original blue alligator leather strap and signed deployant clasp. All parts including the crown, dial, movement, and caseback are original.

Ready to wear!

Key Specs
History

In 1904, Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont complained to his friend Louis Cartier that checking a pocket watch while piloting an aircraft was both impractical and dangerous. Cartier's response was to put a clock on Santos-Dumont's wrist — a square-cased watch with a leather strap and visible screws on the bezel, worn on the pilot's wrist where he could read it with both hands on the controls.

The result was the Santos, one of the first purpose-designed men's wristwatches in history. The exposed screws — which Cartier turned into an aesthetic signature rather than hiding — the square case with rounded corners, and the integrated bracelet are elements so well-conceived that they have remained essentially unchanged for 120 years.

References 1564 (Santos Galbee/Santos de Cartier), 2319, 2961 (Santos Carree), and the Santos Octagon all appear in our inventory across stainless, two-tone, and 18-karat yellow gold. Quartz and automatic movements both saw production. These are not derivative pieces — they are the original article, the watch that defined what a wristwatch could be.