Arnold & Son has been coming up with many interesting pieces in recent times and last year saw them introduce the world’s thinnest tourbillon movement in their UTTE (Ultra Thin Tourbillon Escapement) watch. More recently, they introduced the very interesting DSTB (Dial Side True Beat) watch, which will premiere at Baselworld 2014 next week.
Like the Arnold & Son DSTB watch, the new Arnold & Son Instrument CTB (Central True Beat) watch will feature a true beat or dead beat seconds hand with a chronograph complication– the first ever as we understand it. We don’t see dead seconds often, but what it means is that instead of the seconds hand sweeping smoothly, it will tick like a quartz watch.
That may not sound like much, after all Antoine Martin’s Slow Runner also has a dead seconds hand courtesy of its 1Hz movement. What makes the Instrument CTB stand out is that it is also a chronograph and that its dead seconds hand is mounted centrally along with the regular running seconds hand.
According to Arnold & Son, to do this is no easy feat and the end result is that when the chronograph is activated, it looks as if the sweeping seconds hand is trapped in an endless game of cat and mouse with the dead beat seconds hand, because at the end of each second, the dead beat seconds hand quickly jumps away. Sounds interesting? I can’t wait to see this movement in action.
Do you prefer for me to remind you what the biggest problem is on watches with fully skeletonized dials and moves? It is you could often go through to your skin and arm hair. Yes, these sexy-looking timepieces with skeletonized moves and dials can seem amazing in theory (and pictured independently), but place them on your wrist in a real-world situation and only those individuals with the most beautiful of wrists will not have a reason to complain in any way. This is actually a common “thing” which watch fans can and do whine about.So, to cure this situation and react to this concern, Arnold & Son has done a small experimentation with this new variant of their Time Pyramid watch in steel at the version reference 1TPAS. S01A.C124S “Translucent Back” version. This version will also outright replace the first version of the Arnold & Son Time Pyramid in steel with the traditionally transparent front and rear sapphire crystal.Arnold & Son did an wonderful job with this watch but gave it no special name – which has been fairly idle. “Time Pyramid Translucent Back” is the name that I’m giving it whereas the closest entity Arnold & Son gets to a exceptional name (aside from the mention number) is “Time Pyramid Translucent-Grey Coated Sapphire Case Back” Ugh… Anyways, even without a proper title, the watch is still exactly what you want since the caseback is actually just one-way mirror material.
Powering this watch is the in-house A&S7103 calibre, which is an automatic consisting of 31 jewels and beating at a very modern 28,800 vibrations per hour or 4Hz. Power reserve is a very respectable 50 hours. Time is told off the sub-dial at 12 o’clock and there is a 60 minute counter for the chronograph at 6 o’clock.
The instrument CTB will come in a 44mm stainless steel case with a sapphire display case back that is water-resistant to 30 meters, and will be offered with black or brown alligator straps. Price in steel will be $27,135. arnoldandson.com
Tech specs from Arnold & Son:
Reference: 1CHAS.S02A.C121S
Calibre: A&S7103, Exclusive Arnold & Son mechanical movement, self-winding, column- wheel, ceramic ball bearing, 31 jewels, diameter 30.4 mm, thickness 8.5 mm, power reserve 50 h (without chronograph), 28,800 vibrations/h
Functions: Hours, minutes, true beat seconds, chronograph
Movement decoration: NAC grey treated with Haute Horlogerie finishing: hand-chamfered bridges and polished edges, fine circular graining and Côtes de Genève rayonnantes, circular satin-finished wheels, screws with bevelled and mirror-polished heads. Oscillating weight: skeletonised with brushed surfaces
Dial: Light-grey and silvery opaline
The Arnold & Son HM Double Hemisphere Perpetual Moon’s crystal is anti-reflective sapphire and the case back allows for more accurate adjustments to the moon stage by showing a third moon through eight distinct phases. Once installed, the precision should hold for 122 years, after which a simple adjustment will guarantee it for another 122 decades. The hand-wound movement is an Arnold & Son manufacture A&S1512 which defeats at 21,600 bph using a 90-hour power book. The motion itself is 5.35mm thick and features 27 jewels, while the instance is rated for 30 meters of water resistance. As if the situation back were not beautiful enough, the C?tes de Genève revealed throughout the movement is merely lovely.The Arnold & Son HM Double Hemisphere Perpetual Moon includes a black or brownish hand-stitched alligator strap and is sure to catch the eye of many an eye lover. When trying to fix a issue, the beginning is always a good place to get started. That is exactly the process followed closely by Arnold & Son in their endeavor to eliminate isochronal mistake from among their newest pieces, the Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon. Arnold & Son’s heritage exists in the heritage of John Arnold and his son, two of the most important watchmakers to ever come from England. So revered was Arnold that Abraham-Louis Breguet himself sent him his own son as an apprentice, while Arnold returned the favour. Having packed off his son to learn in the knee of the maestro, Arnold turned his attentions to the problem of these times: the pursuit for chronometric precision at sea.
Case: Stainless steel, diameter 44 mm, cambered sapphire with anti-reflective coating on both sides, see-through sapphire case back, water-resistant to 30 m
Strap: Hand-stitched black or brown alligator leather