Arnold & Son, one of the very early and very influential firms in the history of British watchmaking has been revitalized with the help of The British Masters - a Swiss firm with lofty goals along with the experience and dedication to achieve them.
John Arnold, the patriarch of the brand was a contemporary of Abraham-Louis Breguet. Arnold crafted the chronometer that Breguet mounted his first tourbillon onto. Arnold chronometers were omnipresent among members of the British Royal Navy and also, more famously, the timepiece of choice for many noted explorers - Sir Ernest Shackleton and Captain Cook among them.
Today Arnold & Son maintains its ties to early navigation with many complications that center on the relationship between the time and astronomy and their correlation with navigation.
The Arnold & Son True North Perpetual is a compilation of astronomical complications that's very unique. Besides its perpetual calendar functions that include displays for date, month, moon phase and leap year; the True North Perpetual displays a double equation of time (the difference between the apparent solar time (sundial) and the mean solar time (clock)), apparent solar time, true North and its power in reserve.
To legibly convey all of this information, the True North Perpetual uses a 45mm bezel-less case. The moonphase display is between 9 and 10 o'clock, there's a power reserve display at 11, date at 4, months and leap year at 1 and equation of time (in minutes) at 7. The internal bi-directionally rotating bezel indicates solar time as well as the equation of time. There's a 24 hour hand to indicate local solar time that can also display the time in a second zone against the 24 hour scale. Despite the comprehensive nature of the display, it is surprisingly easy to interpret and logically arranged.
The heart of the Arnold & Son True North Perpetual is Arnold & Son's manually wound Caliber 1794 movement - it has 41 jewels, a 168-hour power reserve and, at 40mm, is huge by most standards. A sapphire crystal display back offers a glimpse into the works.
As shown in 18K white gold and fitted with a crocodile strap and deployant buckle, the MSRP of the Arnold & Son True North Perpetual is $70,900 - money well spent if you appreciate grand complications and stellar watchmaking.
