Arnold & Son launched a new special limited edition of its Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Escapement (UTTE) for Asprey of London. This newcomer is powered with the in-house manufactured caliber A&S8200 mechanical movement with one-minute flying tourbillon. It took several years for Arnold & Son engineers to develop this caliber. The goal was to create a tourbillon, while maintaining the thin form of the case, as well as a long power reserve.
The manually wound movement is crafted in nickel-silver that is NAC grey treated. All its components are hand chamfered, polished and embellished. The caliber A&S8200 is compiled on the 29 jewels and it measures 32mm in diameter and 2.97mm in thickness. This ultra-thin caliber provides an impressive 90 hours of power reserve and it has the frequency of 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour (3 Hz). To provide such a long power reserve, the famous watchmaker implemented two barrels to offer more constant force and unprecedented power reserve for the tourbillon.
The hand-wound mechanism features all Haute Horlogerie finishing that we would expect from Arnold & Son’s watches, such as manually chamfered bridges with polished edges, fine circular graining and Côtes de Genève, screws with bevelled and mirror-polished heads.
The impeccable movement is housed in a round case crafted from palladium. The case measures 42mm in diameter and only 8.34mm in thickness. The case is shielded with cambered sapphire with anti-reflective coating on both sides and it is constructed to resist water pressure of up to 30 meters (100 feet). The case has a see-through sapphire case back.
A tourbillon carriage measures 14mm in diameter and it is situated at the 6 o’clock position on a guilloche dial. It occupies almost half of the movement space. For an impressive visual appeal, Arnold & Son watchmakers removed all visible screws, so the tourbillon cage looks beautifully balanced. The only visible screws are on the regulator. The tourbillon cage is satin-finished with chamfered and polished edges. It is totally spherical and it brings an amazing three-dimensional aesthetic effect.
Just like other members of the Arnold & Son’s Instrument Collection, this novelty is distinguished with the off-centered dial design. Its dial is placed at the top of the breathtaking hand guilloché dial and it comprises Roman numerals and two hands to indicate hours and minutes.
The Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Escapement Asprey Special Edition Watch with the referent number 1UTAG.S06A.C121G is issued in an ultra-limited series of only 8 items. Each of them comes with an elegant, hand-stitched black alligator leather strap.
Arnold & Son created this special edition timepiece for the London jewelry company Asprey which was founded back in 1735. Over the generations, Aspery has established itself as the finest British jeweler and luxury goods house and has become a synonym for luxury and refinement, not only in the UK, but also among connoisseurs worldwide.