Visual Description
The Ref. 1575 is the Santos Dumont in platinum, 27 × 36 mm according to Phillips, Antiquorum, Cambi and Wind Vintage, and about 4.5 mm thick according to Antiquorum (European Watch Co. gives 4.3 mm). The standard dial is silver guilloché with black Roman numerals, and the numbered edition of 90 has a salmon dial. The hands are blued steel and the crystal is sapphire. Phillips and Christie's record 18k white gold Cartier deployant clasps, and European Watch Co. and Amsterdam Vintage Watches platinum ones.
Reference Significance
The 1575 is the platinum Santos Dumont of the Collection Privée Cartier Paris, on the Cartier Cal. 021MC, Cartier's version of the Frédéric Piguet Cal. 21 that also powers the earlier ultra-thin Ref. 96054. Its yellow gold counterpart is a separate reference, the 1576.
Three versions are documented. The 1575-1 is a platinum edition of 90 with a salmon dial, numbered on the case back, which Phillips and Christie's tie to the Santos Dumont's 90th anniversary in 1994. Some standard platinum 1575s are numbered within a series of 50 (Sotheby's sold 22/50, Antiquorum 46/50), and the 1575B carries MG case numbers.
Historical Context
Phillips writes that the 1575B was introduced in the early 1990s. The salmon-dial edition dates to 1994: Phillips sold no. 42 with a Cartier guarantee dated 3 December 1994, and Christie's, Wind Vintage, Amsterdam Vintage Watches and A Collected Man date theirs to 1994, while European Watch Co. dates one to 1997. Sotheby's and Cambi date platinum 1575s to about 1997, and Phillips and Antiquorum date examples to about 2000.
What to Look For
Read the case back for the reference, 1575, 1575-1 or 1575B, the serial and, on numbered pieces, the edition number, such as 42/90 or 22/50. A gold case engraved 1575 deserves questions: every auction record we found is platinum.
The guilloché on the silver dial should be even and crisp. The thin case leaves little margin, so check it for dents, especially at the back, and the sapphire crystal for cracks. Ask for the movement to be photographed: catalogs give the Cal. 021MC or the cal. 21. Papers help confirm a watch; Phillips sold the 1575-1 no. 42 with its Cartier guarantee.
