Baselworld 2014: Introducing the Arnold & Son DTE – Double Tourbillon Escapement Dual Time Watch

Arnold & Son have been treating us with quite a few horological sweetness. There are several models with a True Beat movement – also called dead beat seconds or seconde morte – and there was the visually pleasing Time Pyramid. And if that was not enough for one year, they just introduced Royal TEC1, with a tourbillon and a chronograph, and the world’s thinnest tourbillon called UTTE a.k.a. Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Escapement. So what’s next? Well, next is the DTE, or the Double Tourbillon Escapement. Indeed, that means a wrist watch with not one, but two tourbillons!

This year Arnold & Son celebrate their 250 years of watchmaking heritage. That does not mean they have been making watches for the past 250 years, but their name-giver was at the job, some 250 years ago and to celebrate that they have created something rather marvelous. The Instrument DTE, which stands for Double Tourbillon Escapement, doesn’t only feature a double tourbillon. It also features a double time indication, each of which can be set independently from the other thanks to dedicated setting mechanisms. Each has its own gear train and its own tourbillon escapement. So basically Arnold & Son are offering two watches in one.

This new masterpiece will be limited to 28 pieces in 18K red gold. The double time indications, on two separate dials, shows time in two time zones, in hours and minutes. With these two white lacquered dials, and the use of the Roman numerals for one dial, and Arabic numerals for the other dial, the resemblance with the MB&F Legacy Machine 1 cannot be denied. Arnold & Son add to that two main spring barrels, offering 90 hours of autonomy when fully wound, two separate gear trains and two separate two separate tourbillon escapements.

Some specifications:

• Case: 18k red gold, 43.5 mm in diameter, two crowns to adjust (and wind) the two separate movements, cambered sapphire with anti-reflective coating on both sides, case back with sapphire pane, water-resistant to 30 m
• Movement: exclusive Arnold & Son calibre A&S8513, double tourbillon movement, hand-wound, 42 jewels, power reserve 90 hours, double barrel, 21,600 vph
• Decoration: nickel-silver movement, rhodium treated with Haute Horlogerie finishing: hand-chamfered bridges and polished edges, fine circular graining (pèrlage) and Côtes de Genève rayonnantes, dial side with Côtes de Genève, circular satin-finished wheels with hand-chamfered and polished edges, blued screws with bevelled and mirror-polished heads, tourbillon: 18-carat red gold bridges, satin-finished and mirror-polished surfaces with hand-chamfered and polished edges, hand-chamfered and mirror-polished tourbillon cages

More info: www.arnoldandson.com