Cartier · Santos de Cartier and Santos de Cartier
Cartier WSSA0018 vs Cartier WSSA0029
4 published specifications differ between these two, and 8 are identical. Every figure below is what the manufacturer states for that reference; nothing is inferred from the other watch.
What differs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Steel case, large model, case width 39.8 mm | Steel case, medium model, case width 35.1 mm |
| Diameter | 39.8 mm | 35.1 mm |
| Thickness | 9.38 mm | 8.83 mm |
| Movement | Mechanical movement with automatic winding | Manufacture mechanical movement with automatic winding |
What is identical
Worth knowing as much as the differences: these are the specifications you cannot use to tell the two apart.
- Water resistance
- Water-resistant up to 10 bar (approx. 100 meters/328 feet)
- Crystal
- Sapphire crystal
- Dial
- Silvered opaline, with steel sword-shaped hands
- Crown
- 7-sided crown set with a faceted synthetic spinel
- Bracelet
- Steel bracelet with SmartLink adjustment system, plus a second bracelet in calfskin; both fitted with the QuickSwitch interchangeability system
- Clasp
- Interchangeable steel folding buckle
- Calibre
- Caliber 1847 MC
- Movement notes
- Cartier publishes no power reserve, lug width or lug-to-lug figure for this reference.
What the differences cost you
Each note below follows from the published figures in the tables above — what they mean for intake, for a listing, and for the handover. Nothing here estimates a price or a margin.
These reach different buyers
39.8 mm on the WSSA0018 against 35.1 mm on the WSSA0029. Diameter is a poor predictor of how a watch actually sits, but it is the field buyers filter on, so the two land in front of different people. Do not let one listing's photographs or copy stand in for the other.
One needs sizing, the other needs stock
The WSSA0018 comes on a bracelet and the WSSA0029 on a strap. They are different jobs at resale: a bracelet has to be sized and its removed links kept with the watch, because a buyer who receives it short of links has received an incomplete watch. A strap is a consumable — check whether the one on the wrist is the one that should be in the photographs.
Easy to confuse once they are both in the safe
Only 4 published specifications separate these two — case, diameter, thickness and movement. Photographs will not reliably tell them apart, so record the reference from the case or the papers at intake rather than from the look of the watch, and check it again before the listing goes up. Getting this wrong is a returned watch and a credibility problem, not a rounding error.
What to check on each
WSSA0018
- Establish whether both bracelets are present. Cartier ships this reference with a steel bracelet and a second calfskin one, so a watch arriving with only the steel is an incomplete set.
- Work the QuickSwitch release on both bracelets and refit each once. It is the mechanism that makes the second bracelet usable, and a seized release turns a two-bracelet watch into a one-bracelet watch.
- Run the SmartLink sizing through a link removal and refit. It is toolless by design, the pushers are small, and a bent one is the commonest damage on this bracelet.
WSSA0029
- Confirm the case width against the published 35.1 mm before describing the size. The medium and large Santos look identical in a photograph and are 4.7 mm apart.
- Check any spare bracelet actually belongs to this case. The QuickSwitch fitting is sized to the model, so a large-model bracelet will not sit correctly on a medium case.
- Establish that both the steel and calfskin bracelets are present, since Cartier lists both as part of this reference.
Sources
- Cartier official product page for reference WSSA0018 (Santos de Cartier, large model, steel) - Santos watch; Large model; Mechanical movement with automatic winding; Caliber 1847 Mc; Steel case; 7-sided crown set with a faceted synthetic spinel; Silvered opaline dial; Steel sword-shaped hands; Sapphire crystal; Steel bracelet with SmartLink adjustment system; Second bracelet in calfskin; With interchangeable steel folding buckle; Both bracelets are fitted with the QuickSwitch interchangeability system; Case width: 39.8 mm; Thickness: 9.38 mm; Water-resistant up to 10 bar (approx. 100 meters/328 feet). No power reserve, lug width or lug-to-lug figure is published on this page — retrieved 2026-09-23
- Cartier official product page for reference WSSA0029 (Santos de Cartier, medium model, steel) - Santos watch; Medium model; Manufacture mechanical movement with automatic winding; Caliber 1847 Mc; Steel case; 7-sided crown set with a faceted synthetic spinel; Silvered opaline dial; Steel sword-shaped hands; Sapphire crystal; Steel bracelet with SmartLink adjustment system; Second bracelet in calfskin; With interchangeable steel folding buckle; Both bracelets are fitted with the QuickSwitch interchangeability system; Case width: 35.1 mm; Thickness: 8.83 mm; Water-resistant up to 10 bar (approx. 100 meters/328 feet). No power reserve, lug width or lug-to-lug figure is published on this page — retrieved 2026-09-23
Not affiliated with Cartier. Specifications are read from each manufacturer's own published documentation on the dates shown and may change; the manufacturer's current documentation governs.