Cartier

SJX
[Purist]
8540

• Show profile
• Show other posts

A look at the outgoing Santos 100 Carbon ADLC

Cartier introduced the soon to be discontinued Santos 100 Carbon in 2009. Coated in black amorphous diamond-like carbon (ADLC), the watch was quite a departure from the typical Cartier look. I wrote in my SIHH report of 2009: “This is a very unusual step for Cartier, both in terms of materials and design; I cannot recall any other Cartier watch with a treated case.” But more notable than the look is the useful properties of the coating, which are not widely understood.

Santos 100 Carbon chronograph with titanium bezel and pushers

Santos 100 Carbon Automatic with rose gold bezel and crown 

ADLC coating – which simply speaking imparts the properties of diamond to the surface coating – Cartier uses for the Santos 100 Carbon is unusual in its durability. As explained to me by Dr Zian Kighelman, who has a PhD in material science and was formerly the senior manager for innovation at Cartier manufacture, ADLC’s properties function on two scales, hardness and elasticity, with each being inversely proportional to the other. So if hardness increases, elasticity falls.

Hardness is important to resist scratches, but the elasticity of the coating matters as well. A common problem with coated watch cases is delamination, which happens when the substrate (underlying material surface) deforms, for instance being dented or gouged. Because the coating is hard, it cannot conform to the deformed surface, so it no longer adheres and thus delaminates. This is why when certain coated watch cases are damaged, the metal surface below is exposed. Usually the metal surface is a contrasting colour to the coating – typically a steel or gold base with a dark coating – so it is obvious when delamination occurs.

So Cartier opted for a coating that is more elastic than typically used in watch cases. As a result the coating adheres even when the surface below is damaged. But even this more elastic ADLC has a harder surface than steel, so it resists the hairline scratches and scuffs that are inevitable. Consequently the coating is admirable resistant. I have personally tried to scratch a Santos 100 ADLC with the sharp end of a house key, enthusiastically and gleefully, but with no success.

Also notable is the fact that the ADLC coating is fingerprint proof. The oils on the fingertips that typically leave a fingerprint do nothing to the Santos 100 Carbon.

Initially I didn’t like the Santos 100 Carbon but have warmed to it, especially in the rose gold and ADLC combination. It is a very striking watch with highly functional properties, but admittedly the aesthetic is far from typical Cartier.

Though ADLC models are still available at Cartier boutiques and retailers, production will end later this year, giving the Santos 100 Carbon a fairly short four year model life. Cartier has put quite some effort into the coating production, so I expect other ADLC models to emerge in the future (in the Calibre de Cartier perhaps?). Right now the only watch with a coated case is the Santos Dumont Skeleton in titanium. But Cartier uses ADLC to coat wheels in the lubrication-free ID One concept watch, so that might just appear in mass production in the future as well.

- SJX

Above: Santos Dumont Skeleton Titanium

Site Info.