Authenticate Cartier Santos
Exposed screws on the bezel, which have to be real screws.
Introduced 1904Paris
The Santos wears its screws on the outside: eight of them on the bezel, and they are functional fasteners, not decorative studs. On genuine production they are properly cut screws with real slots, seated at an even depth. Counterfeits mould or glue them, and the slots then sit at random angles or at no angle at all.
Modern Santos references use the maison's quick-release strap and bracelet system, which engages with a positive click and holds without play. A strap system that requires force or that rattles is a failure.
The dial carries Roman numerals, a railway track and the secret signature, and the crown holds the cabochon. On steel references the cabochon is typically a synthetic blue stone, faceted.
What a Santos does on the secondary market
Strong since the model's 2018 redesign. Quick-release bracelet condition and completeness of the interchangeable straps set the figure.
An orientation for honest, unrestored condition — never an appraisal, and never a quotation.
Questions we are asked
- Are the screws on a Santos bezel real?
- Yes. They are functional fasteners with real slots, seated at an even depth. Counterfeits mould or glue them, and the slots then sit at random angles or at no angle at all.
- Should a Santos strap change without tools?
- On modern references, yes. The quick-release system engages with a positive click and holds without play; a strap system that needs force or that rattles is a failure.
Lovenhall WatchRead the watch itself
The checks tell you how it was made. The instrument tells you what it appears to be, and roughly what its kind fetches.