A Cartier Santos Lady clone is a replica of a Cartier Santos watch in a small case. Sellers use "clone" and "first copy" to mean a watch that copies the case shape, the Roman numeral dial, the exposed bezel screws, and the crown with a blue cabochon. Prices run from about $60 to $800. Genuine steel Santos watches sell in the thousands of dollars. Cartier does not use "Lady" as a model name in its current catalog. The term comes from the secondary market and from replica sellers, and it points at the smaller Santos sizes.
What the Cartier Santos Is
Louis Cartier designed the Santos in 1904 for Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian aviator who lived in Paris. Santos-Dumont flew a powered aircraft 220 m at Bagatelle in 1906. Cartier put the Santos into regular production in 1978 as a steel watch with a matching bracelet. The line now has two branches. The Santos-Dumont uses a thin case, a quartz movement in the small size, and a hand-wound movement in the larger sizes. The Santos de Cartier uses the automatic calibre 1847 MC with a 42-hour power reserve.
Cartier lists women's Santos sizes between 24 mm and 35 mm. The Santos Galbée, made from the 1980s to the 2010s, came in 24 mm and 29 mm cases. It is out of production. The current Santos-Dumont small and the Santos de Cartier medium are the models that sellers copy most.
Cartier Santos Lady Counterfeit: How to Tell a Fake From a Genuine Watch
The 2018 Santos de Cartier added QuickSwitch, a strap release that works with a press on a tab, and SmartLink, a bracelet system that lets a wearer add or remove links without tools.
Where Clones Match and Where They Differ
- Bezel screws. Cartier sets polished screws into the bezel. Copies use screws with soft heads or slots that do not line up.
- Bracelet. QuickSwitch and SmartLink hardware does not appear on most replicas. Clones use pin-and-collar links or spring bars.
- Movement. Copies use a Miyota 9015, a Seiko NH35, an ETA 2824 pattern movement, or quartz. None of these is the Cartier 1847 MC.
- Crown. Steel Santos models carry a blue synthetic spinel cabochon. Gold models carry a sapphire. Clones use glass, dyed resin, or plastic.
- Crystal. Genuine watches use sapphire with an anti-reflective coating. Some copies use mineral glass.
- Case metal. Cartier states "steel" on product pages and publishes no grade. Sellers claim 904L. Test data for those claims is rare.
Price Tiers
- $60 to $150. Quartz movement, mineral glass, stamped dial, gold plating that wears through.
- $150 to $400. Automatic movement from Miyota or Seiko, sapphire crystal, 316L case.
- $400 to $800. The tier sellers call "first copy" or "super clone." ETA pattern movement, closer case brushing, etched caseback text. No replica matches Cartier finishing under a loupe.
Legal Status in the US
Trafficking in counterfeit goods is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 2320. Penalties reach 10 years in prison for a first offense and 20 years for repeat offenses. Fines reach $2 million for an individual and $5 million for a company. A purchase for personal use is not charged under § 2320 in most cases, but import remains illegal.
Under 19 U.S.C. § 1526 and 19 CFR Part 133, U.S. Customs and Border Protection can seize and destroy counterfeit goods at the border. The personal exemption for one item does not cover merchandise with a counterfeit trademark.
Trademark holders can sue under the Lanham Act. 15 U.S.C. § 1117(c) allows statutory damages of $1,000 to $200,000 per counterfeit mark per type of good, and up to $2,000,000 when a court finds the use willful. Richemont owns Cartier and enforces these marks.
Service, Parts, and Resale
Cartier repair centers do not service counterfeit watches. Independent watchmakers decline the work in many cases because parts do not interchange with genuine components. A clone has no warranty and no service history. Pre-owned steel Santos watches carry four-figure values on the secondary market. Replica watches carry none.
Points to Inspect
- Weigh the watch. Steel Santos models have a heft that most copies do not match.
- Check the screw slots on the bezel for alignment and polish.
- Look at the dial printing under magnification. Roman numerals on genuine dials have sharp edges.
- Test the bracelet release on a Santos de Cartier. QuickSwitch should work with a press.
- Ask for the movement number. Cartier stamps the calibre on the rotor or the caseback.
- Compare the crown cabochon color with a Cartier photo. Blue spinel and sapphire differ from glass.