Watch Paparazzi

Entrepreneur Diego Della Valle spotted wearing Cartier

Diego Della Valle, president and CEO of the Tod's Group, was recently spotted wearing a Cartier Santos-Dumont in 18ct white gold with a white dial and leather strap — reference W2007051. The choice is telling: this is not a watch that shouts, it reasons quietly with anyone who knows what to look for.

The Santos-Dumont ref. W2007051 houses Cartier's manual-wind movement calibre 81, a slim, reliable mechanism perfectly suited to the watch's dress DNA. The case measures 38 x 28mm in its large size format — a deliberate nod to the elongated cushion shape of the 1904 original — and sits at a profile thin enough to vanish beneath a shirt cuff. The white gold case paired with a white lacquered dial creates a monochromatic restraint that separates this reference from the more commonly seen steel and yellow gold iterations in the Santos family.

The Santos-Dumont occupies a specific and respected place in Cartier's catalogue. While the Santos de Cartier (with its integrated bracelet and crown-protecting screws) targets a sportier audience, the Santos-Dumont is the purist's choice — a manual-wind, leather-strap dress watch that traces a direct philosophical line back to the original commission. Ref. W2007051 in white gold is the model at its most formal and collectible. Cartier discontinued and reintroduced Santos variants over the decades, but the Santos-Dumont has retained a loyal following among collectors who prefer Cartier's architectural, geometric case language over its round-cased offerings.

Diego Della Valle is a figure for whom watch choice functions as an extension of brand identity. As the steward of Tod's, Hogan, and Fay, he operates in a world where materials, proportions, and quiet prestige carry more weight than visible logos. A white gold Santos-Dumont with a clean white dial aligns precisely with that sensibility — luxury expressed through restraint rather than volume.

On the secondary market, the Cartier Santos-Dumont W2007051 in white gold trades at a modest premium or near list price, reflecting Cartier's generally stable grey-market positioning for non-sports references. At a list price of approximately $13,200 USD, it remains accessible relative to comparable white gold dress watches from Patek Philippe or Jaeger-LeCoultre, making it an intelligent entry point into precious-metal Cartier collecting.