Cartier · Santos de Cartier and Santos-Dumont
Cartier WSSA0018 vs Cartier WSSA0046
10 published specifications differ between these two, and 1 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 with black lacquer, large model, case dimensions 43.5 mm x 31.4 mm |
| Thickness | 9.38 mm | 7.3 mm |
| Water resistance | Water-resistant up to 10 bar (approx. 100 meters/328 feet) | Water-resistant up to 3 bar (approx. 30 meters/100 feet) |
| Dial | Silvered opaline, with steel sword-shaped hands | Black square decoration with translucent lacquer, Roman numerals, steel sword-shaped hands |
| Crown | 7-sided crown set with a faceted synthetic spinel | Steel beaded crown set with a blue synthetic spinel cabochon |
| Bracelet | Steel bracelet with SmartLink adjustment system, plus a second bracelet in calfskin; both fitted with the QuickSwitch interchangeability system | Black alligator leather strap |
| Clasp | Interchangeable steel folding buckle | Steel ardillon buckle |
| Calibre | Caliber 1847 MC | Caliber 430 MC |
| Movement | Mechanical movement with automatic winding | Manufacture mechanical movement with manual winding |
| Movement notes | Cartier publishes no power reserve, lug width or lug-to-lug figure for this reference. | Cartier publishes no power reserve for this reference. |
What is identical
Worth knowing as much as the differences: these are the specifications you cannot use to tell the two apart.
- Crystal
- Sapphire crystal
Stated for one, not the other
These rows cannot be compared, because one maker publishes the figure and the other does not. An empty cell is a gap in the manufacturer's documentation, not a gap in the watch — and not a licence to fill it in from the other column.
| Diameter | 39.8 mm | not stated |
|---|---|---|
| Case back | not stated | Engraved with the handwritten signature of Alberto Santos-Dumont |
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.
A visible difference in how they wear
2.1 mm of thickness separates these, with the WSSA0018 the taller at 9.4 mm. That is the difference between a watch that goes under a cuff and one that catches on it — worth a photograph from the side rather than a number in a table.
Do not describe these the same way
The WSSA0046 is rated to 30 metres and the WSSA0018 to 100. A rating is a factory figure for a new watch with fresh gaskets, not a promise about a used one — but the gap still matters in writing. Describe the WSSA0046 in words a buyer can act on, and do not let a template carry the WSSA0018's language onto it.
Two different ownership conversations
The WSSA0018 is self-winding and the WSSA0046 is hand-wound. That changes what a buyer needs telling at handover, and it changes intake: a hand-wound watch has no rotor to mask a tired mainspring, and a stopped quartz watch is usually a battery rather than a fault.
One needs sizing, the other needs stock
The WSSA0018 comes on a bracelet and the WSSA0046 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.
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.
WSSA0046
- Inspect the black lacquer at every case edge and corner for wear through to the steel beneath. Lacquer cannot be refinished the way bare steel can, so any breakthrough is permanent and must be disclosed.
- Photograph the engraved case back. Cartier engraves it with the handwritten signature of Alberto Santos-Dumont, and a worn or polished engraving is a real deduction on a reference sold partly on that detail.
- Wind it from stopped and stop at the stop, because the 430 MC is hand-wound with no rotor and no slipping bridle protecting the mainspring.
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 WSSA0046 (Santos-Dumont, large model, steel with black lacquer) - Santos-Dumont watch; Large model; Manufacture mechanical movement with manual winding; Caliber 430 Mc; Steel case with black lacquer; Steel beaded crown set with a blue synthetic spinel cabochon; Black square decoration dial with translucent lacquer; Roman numerals; Steel sword-shaped hands; Sapphire crystal; Case back engraved with the handwritten signature of Alberto Santos-Dumont; Black alligator leather strap; Steel ardillon buckle; Case dimensions: 43.5 mm x 31.4 mm; Thickness: 7.3 mm; Water-resistant up to 3 bar (approx. 30 meters/100 feet). No power reserve 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.