Cartier · Santos de Cartier Skeleton
Cartier Santos Skeleton WHSA0015: specifications and checks
The one Cartier here with a published power reserve, a jewel count and a part count. Skeletonised bridges form the Roman numerals, which means the movement is the dial.
Reference WHSA0015 · specifications read from the manufacturer on 2026-09-23 · listed as current
Specifications
As published by Cartier. A field the manufacturer does not state is left out rather than filled in.
- Case
- Steel case, large model, case width 39.8 mm
- Diameter
- 39.8 mm
- Thickness
- 9.08 mm
- Water resistance
- Water-resistant up to 10 bar (approx. 100 meters/330 feet)
- Crystal
- Sapphire crystal and case back
- Dial
- Hours and minutes with skeletonized bridges forming Roman numerals, with blued-steel sword-shaped hands
- Case back
- Sapphire case back
- Crown
- Heptagonal crown set with a faceted sapphire
- Bracelet
- Steel bracelet with SmartLink adjustment system, plus a second bracelet in alligator leather; both fitted with the QuickSwitch interchangeability system
- Clasp
- Interchangeable steel deployant buckle
Movement
- Calibre
- Caliber 9611 MC
- Type
- Manufacture mechanical movement with manual winding
- Power reserve
- Power reserve approx. 72 hours
- Frequency
- 28,800 vibrations/hour
- Jewels
- 20
- Notes
- Individually numbered movement consisting of 138 parts including 20 rubies. Movement dimensions 28 mm x 28 mm, movement thickness 3.97 mm. Cartier's page splits the balance figure across two bullets, as 'Balance: 28' followed by '800 vibrations/hour'.
What to check before you buy
- Record the movement's individual number. Cartier states the movement is individually numbered, and on a skeleton that number is visible through the case back and is part of what a buyer is acquiring.
- Inspect the skeletonised bridges under a loupe from both sides. On this reference the movement is the dial, so a mark on a bridge is a mark on the face of the watch.
- Wind it from stopped and stop at the stop. This is a hand-wound calibre with no rotor and nothing protecting the mainspring from someone who keeps turning.
- Check the sapphire case back for chips as carefully as the crystal, since Cartier specifies sapphire at both ends and the back faces the wrist.
- Confirm the crown stone is a faceted sapphire rather than the synthetic spinel used on the time-only Santos references, because the two are not the same part.
The movement is the dial
Cartier describes the display as hours and minutes with skeletonized bridges forming Roman numerals. There is no dial in the usual sense — the bridges of the movement are shaped into the numerals, and you read the time against the mechanism.
That inverts the inspection. On every other watch documented here, the movement is something you assess through a window and the dial is the surface that decides condition. Here they are the same object.
So examine the bridges the way you would examine a dial: under a loupe, at several angles, looking for scratches, slipped-screwdriver marks, fingerprints and any dulling of the finish. Anything on a bridge is on the face of the watch and is visible to the owner every time they check the time.
Look from the back as well. Cartier specifies sapphire crystal and case back, so both sides are on display and both sides are inspectable.
The one Cartier here with a full movement sheet
Across the Cartier references documented on this site, this is the only page where Cartier publishes the movement in detail:
- Calibre 9611 MC, manufacture, manual winding
- Power reserve approx. 72 hours
- 28,800 vibrations/hour
- 138 parts including 20 rubies
- Movement dimensions 28 mm x 28 mm, 3.97 mm thick
- Individually numbered
Two of those are worth acting on.
Record the number. An individually numbered movement on a skeleton is visible through the back, buyers ask for it, and it belongs in your inventory and your listing.
Wind it carefully. Hand-wound, no rotor, no slipping bridle. When the crown stops it has stopped, and a buyer coming from an automatic will keep turning unless you tell them not to. Seventy-two hours means it will survive a weekend if they wind it properly.
One documentation oddity worth knowing: Cartier's page splits the balance figure across two bullets, rendering "Balance: 28" and "800 vibrations/hour" as separate list items. The figure is 28,800 vibrations per hour; the page's markup has broken on the comma. It is recorded here as published.
A different stone in the crown
The crown is heptagonal, set with a faceted sapphire.
That differs from the time-only Santos references, which Cartier specifies with a synthetic spinel. Different stone, different part, and worth checking rather than assuming — a crown swapped from another Santos is a detail a serious buyer of a skeleton will notice.
Inspect the stone for chips along its facet edges and confirm it sits firm.
Bracelets, and the buckle difference
As on the other Santos references: a steel bracelet with SmartLink plus a second bracelet, both on QuickSwitch.
Two differences from the time-only models. The second bracelet here is alligator leather rather than calfskin, and the buckle is a deployant rather than a folding buckle.
Establish that both bracelets are present, release and refit each once, and take a SmartLink out and put it back to prove the pushers work.
Case width is 39.8 mm, matching the large time-only model, at 9.08 mm thick — fractionally thinner despite the skeleton construction. Water resistance is 10 bar (approx. 100 meters/330 feet).
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Sources
Not affiliated with Cartier. Specifications are read from the manufacturer's own published documentation on the date shown and may change; the manufacturer's current documentation governs.