The moment I saw the new Santos de Cartier with blue PVD bezel a few months ago, I fell in love with it. There is no doubt that the Santos de Cartier is one of the most iconic and legendary watches in the world, and I love that every time Cartier releases a new iteration of this watch, they do it with the utmost care. Honestly, you can’t tweak an icon unless you do it right and many brands have learned the lesson the hard way.

The new Santos is bolder than the classic —regular production— sibling and Cartier was able to add a touch of color without messing too much with the watch and respecting the original design cues and DNA. The Santos de Cartier with blue PVD bezel is available in the large model with a case measuring 39.8 mm in width and the combination of the blue Roman numerals on the dial along with the stainless steel blue PVD bezel is simply remarkable —the color of the bezel and numerals is identical.

But why do I like this watch so much? Well, I love all things blue, and having such a bold bezel in blue makes the watch appear more modern and way edgier. Additionally, the dial features a striated center that continues along the sides of the bezel. Adding this type of bezel to a very classic-looking watch like the Santos is just like adding a set of custom rims to a Porsche 993 —the last of the air-cooled era 911s— without making the car look less classic but somewhat edgier. And by no means I am even daring to compare a Santos to a 993.

Now, something else that I love about this watch is the ‘quick switch’ interchangeable strap system that allows you to have a completely different look in a matter of seconds. While all the other Santos de Cartier watches typically come with an additional leather strap in addition to the stainless steel bracelet, this new Santos with blue PVD bezel comes with a blue rubber strap matching the color of the bezel. Now, if you like blue as much as I do, there’s a second version of this watch with a blue dial that gets even better at least in my book.

Lastly, the watch feels and wears like any other large-size Santos de Cartier and for less than $8K USD you get a very unique looking watch with the blue PVD bezel, an in-house mechanical automatic movement powering this timepiece, and two completely different looks. Could you ask for anything else? Not really.

Sticker Price $7,800 USD. For more info on Cartier click here.