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Actor Adrien Brody spotted wearing Cartier

The 2022 Met Gala, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, carried the theme 'Gilded Glamour,' celebrating American excess and the Gilded Age. Academy Award winner Adrien Brody arrived in white-tie black tie and, on his wrist, made a quietly eloquent statement: the Cartier Santos de Cartier Large in 18-karat yellow gold — a watch whose lineage predates nearly every rival on the market.

The Santos de Cartier Large Automatic in yellow gold, reference WGSA0009, houses Cartier's in-house Manufacture calibre 1847 MC, a self-winding movement with a 40-hour power reserve, rhodium-plated finish, and quick-setting mechanism. The case measures 39.8mm × 47.5mm, maintaining the iconic square silhouette with exposed screws on the bezel — a design detail that was considered audaciously industrial when Louis Cartier first introduced the concept for Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1904. That makes the Santos not just historically significant but the legitimate claim to being the world's first men's wristwatch designed for active, daily use.

From a collector's perspective, the all-yellow-gold Santos occupies a particular niche: it is simultaneously a heritage piece and a contemporary dress watch. The 2018 relaunch of the Santos line — which introduced the SmartLink bracelet system allowing owners to swap links tool-free — injected fresh relevance into a reference that had grown stale. The yellow gold variant carries a gravity that the steel references cannot replicate, and its Roman numeral dial with blued steel hands remains a masterclass in restrained luxury.

Brody's choice aligns with his reputation as a style-forward dresser who leans toward considered, art-informed choices. Pairing an 18-karat gold Santos with white-tie at a 'Gilded Glamour' gala demonstrates watch literacy — the metal choice mirrors the theme without resorting to flashy, logo-heavy timepieces that lesser stylists might have reached for.

At retail, the Cartier Santos de Cartier Large WGSA0009 in yellow gold lists at approximately $32,000 USD. On the secondary market, strong demand for Cartier's gold sport-dress references has kept grey-market values close to, and occasionally above, retail — a rare and telling indicator of the model's enduring desirability.