Home » Baselworld - World Watch and Jewellery Show » Baselworld 2013 Preview – Arnold & Son Time Pyramid Watch
British-born brand, Arnold & Son, has just unveiled one of its Baselworld 2013 novelties. In creating their latest timepiece, the Manufacture has reached back in time for inspiration, but not only to the historic regulators of John and Roger Arnold, but to the standing English skeleton clocks of the nineteenth century as well.
British Skeleton Clock from the Nineteenth Century
The Time Pyramid watch features a new triangular caliber that is skeletonized and set between two sapphire crystals for a particularly dramatic appearance. The beating heart of the watch is Caliber A&S 1615 mechanical movement designed and developed in-house by La Joux-Perret at the company’s La Chaux-de-Fonds workshops, Switzerland (it is a sister company of Arnold & Son also owned by Citizen). The movement is extremely thin – just 4.4mm.
Magnificently Demonstrates British Heritage and Ingenuity in Watchmaking
The skeletonized caliber is built in a unique format, with a balance wheel at the twelve o’clock position, placed directly below the palette and the anchor wheel which is shaped in the brand’s signature “X” form.
On the opposite side, at the six o’clock position, there are two mainspring barrels which supply the hand-wound caliber with amazing 80 hours of power reserve, and which also provide a more constant force to the wheel train.
Arnold & Son Time Pyramid Watch
The 27 jewels movement oscillates at the frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz) and powers functionality like hours, minutes, seconds, and double power reserve indicators.
The gear train runs vertically in a linear format connecting the two barrels at the six o’clock position to the balance wheel at the twelve o’clock position, and endowing the movement with its pyramid structure. The bridges are created so that all of the wheels, the two mainspring barrels, the escapement and the balance wheel are all perfectly visible from the dial side.
Further, the movement is fitted with two power reserve indicators, each on either side of the linear gear train, to display the energy level for each barrel individually. The power reserve hands show the level of reserve with arc-styled graduated dots which are printed under the top sapphire crystal. They demonstrate how one barrel transfers energy to the second one when necessary.
As the final touch, the movement has received a high-level of finishing, including manually chamfered bridges with polished edges, Côtes de Genève, circular satin-finished wheels and blued screws. As the result, the overall visual impact is quite impressive.
Movement parts and watch indications are built in a form of three-dimensional construction, with the subsidiary seconds dial on the bottom, the hour indications on a sapphire crystal dial in the middle level, and a silver top ring for the minutes indication.
Arnold & Son Time Pyramid is a masterful rendition of technical prowess and outstanding elegance. The watch is housed in an 18-karat rose gold case shielded on both sides with sapphire crystal anti-reflective coating.
Unusually, the rose gold crown (with Arnold & Son’s engraved logo) is situated at the 6 o’clock position and I must say that it looks stunning, but unfortunately it makes winding the manually-wound movement a little bit difficult when on the wrist.
This newcomer is attached to either brown or black hand-stitched alligator leather strap. The water-resistance of the case is assured down to 30 meters (100 feet). The retail price is about $42,000.
