Arnold & Son had been one of the most memorable names for us at Baselworld 2018 that hosted many novelties from different segments. Being one of the most well-established brands of the watchmaking industry with more than 250 years of history, Arnold & Son is the guest of our pages once again with its Tourbillon Chronometer No.36 Tribute Edition Stainless Steel model.
The model that pays tribute to the brand’s glorious heritage was actually not solely a novelty. In fact, it was one of the new two versions added to the Tourbillon Chronometer No.36 series which were exclusively designed to commemorate John Arnold’s magnificent No.36/1 model of 1778 aka the first pocket watch granted with Chronometer due to its superior accuracy.
John Arnold Pocket Chronometer N°1/36 - 1778. (National Maritime Museum Greenwich, UK)
Premium or Hi-End brands offering Tourbillon timepieces is not a new thing in the world of luxury watchmaking. However, offering Tourbillon timepieces in stainless steel instead of precious metals like 18K gold or Platinum is still a rare case. And Arnold & Son Tourbillon Chronometer No.36 Tribute Edition Stainless Steel is a perfect example for this occasion.
The new model comes in a 46mm diameter case made of stainless steel with fully mirror polished finish. Due to the strong lugs and the thinner bezel coupled by a domed sapphire crystal, the case wears bigger than 46mm making it hard to hide.
The case is equipped with anti-glare treated scratch resistant sapphire crystals on both sides and it is water resistant to 30 meters. The single winding crown is designed in classic onion shape and engraved with the Arnold & Son logo.
The dial of the new model is designed in skeleton style as it was in the previous versions. No extra indications for the time display function rather than an inner chapter ring showing hour and minute markers. The Arnold & Son text is located at 12 o’clock while the brand’s logo and the number 8600 (referring to the movement inside) are present at the left side of 6 o’clock.
The new model is equipped with the brand’s in-house Caliber A&S 8600. 33 jewels manual winding movement beats at a frequency of 4Hz (28.800vph) and offers a power reserve of 90 hours when fully wound thanks its large twin barrels. The movement is fully enjoyable thanks to the skeleton style dial and sapphire crystal display caseback. As expected from Arnold & Son, the movement is decorated extensively and equipped with customized components to match with the stainless-steel concept like NAC treated bridges and black DLC treated main plate with Haute Horlogerie finishing, sand blasted bridges with chamfered and polished edges, 18k gold chatons and screws with beveled and mirror-polished heads. The Tourbillon cage is also mirror-polished with hand-chamfered polished edges and circular satin-finished surfaces.
Arnold & Son Tourbillon Chronometer No.36 Tribute Edition Stainless Steel model comes on a brown alligator strap and a folding clasp made of stainless steel. The MSRP for the model is 39,300 CHF. There is also an 18K pink gold version in the collection available for CHF 58,200.
