It is now a tradition for watch brands to commemorate Chinese New Year by creating beautiful, decorative, limited editions artistically depicting the appropriate sign of the Chinese zodiac. The Year of the Ox – which is the second animal in the Chinese 12-year zodiac cycle – begins on February 12, 2021. Elizabeth Doerr shares 8 of this year’s colorful offerings here.
Elizabeth Doerr highlights five new watches by independent watchmakers that we would have seen for the first time at Watches & Wonders or Baselworld 2020, had these fairs run as scheduled in late April.
Since 2013, Arnold & Son has had a stunning watch series called the Time Pyramid inspired by early pyramid-shaped clocks seen in English clockmaking. At Baselworld 2019 the Arnold & Son Time Pyramid got an awesome update with a new tourbillon and some other tweaks.
Here are five recent examples of skeletonization – both traditionally and contemporarily crafted – that take the art form to the next level. Each one of them has a strong allure that derives from the meticulous finishing and uncluttered design of mechanical “bare bones.”
The click spring is one of the smaller components of a mechanical watch, but it is of enormous importance. Ever wondered why the crown doesn’t retaliate furiously and unwind every time you crank it? Without the click spring, a wound mainspring would immediately – and explosively – uncoil like a raging viper in a hat box.
One of my favorite complications is the moon phase, and an appropriately magnificent example is the Arnold & Son HM Double Hemisphere Perpetual Moon. This watch is among the biggest and boldest moon phase watches in existence, and it is one of my favorite pieces from Arnold & Son.
At Baselworld 2016, Arnold & Son unveiled the UTTE Skeleton ultra-thin tourbillon, a new world record holder and a darn good looking watch. Discover how Arnold & Son did more with less to make this the thinnest skeleton tourbillon watch on the market.
Please join our Quill & Pad round table discussion on Baselworld 2016. This time we take on some of the same topics that GaryG and his collector group use to the discuss their impressions of a watch fair: best of show, worst of show, watch you would buy with your own money, watch you would buy if money were no object, investment watch, patronage watch, fun watch, and a fantasy money no object watch.
With its latest skeleton watch Nebula, Arnold & Son looks to the stars and the earth in equal measure. Nebula features a brand new movement conceived from the ground up with a specific design and sense of purpose. The beautiful symmetry of the result clearly shows as much, and first thing that grabs you about this timepiece is its visual balance. The next thing that will grab you is its price.
The Arnold & Son Golden Wheel presents a fresh take on a centuries-old complication.
Instead of traditional hands, the hours are displayed on a disk that passes over a semi-circle arch to indicate the minutes. With a quick glance, you can see how much of an hour has gone by without necessarily needing to know the precise minute. This is a highly fluid and poetic manner of depicting the time first seen in the seventeenth century. And now Arnold & Son puts it into a modern wristwatch.