Ohhhh purdy! What you see before you is the Arnold & Son DSTB (Dual Side True Beat) Instrument Collection, a 250th anniversary piece with a dead beat seconds hand at about noon and regular time display at 5 o’clock.
This isn’t a new movement per se but it has been updated with an automatic winding mechanism and they’ve put a handsome anchor on the front to address the naval heritage of the brand. As my may remember, John Arnold build some of the first naval chronometers for the British Navy, giving that illustrious body a leg up in a number of battles and hearkening in the age of exploration. While Arnold & Son have approximately as much connection to John Arnold as Burger King has to Henry VIII, the brand is capitalizing on history to give it a bit of cachet, which is fine by me.
No pricing but they’re only making 50 of these so expect a bit of a credit card bill when you pick one up.
Exclusive Arnold & Son mechanical movement, self-winding, 32 jewels, diameter 38 mm, thickness 7.39 mm, power reserve 50 h, 28,800 vibrations/h
Functions: hours, minutes, true beat seconds
Movement decoration: palladium treated with Haute Horlogerie finishing: hand-chamfered bridges and polished edges, fine circular graining and Côtes de Genève rayonnantes, dial plate NAC grey treated with large circular finishing, circular satin-finished wheels, blued screws with beveled and mirror- polished heads
True beat seconds bridges: rose gold treated, satin-finished with hand-chamfered and polished edges
Oscillating weight: rhodium treated, skeletonised with brushed surfaces
Dial: domed and white lacquered, sapphire
Case: 18-carat red gold, diameter 43.5 mm, cambered sapphire with anti-reflective coating on both sides, see-through sapphire case back, water-resistant to 30 m
Strap: hand-stitched brown or black alligator leather
Limited edition: 250th Anniversary, 50 timepieces
