Introducing – Arnold and Son HM Perpetual Moon, now in steel and with a blue guilloche dial

When it comes to moon-phases indications, you usually have a small window at 6 on your dial, made in the form of an arch into which a blue disc with a gilded or silvered circle (depicting the moon) runs. This is always a nice and poetic complication to have on your watch, however, most of the time, this display is small – in fact too small to be really precise, even if some claim to have indications incredibly precise (like this one). For those wishing something larger and a bit more realistic, Arnold & Son has a solution, and not the worst one to say the least. Here is the Arnold and Son HM Perpetual Moon, now with a steel case and a blue guilloche dial.

Let’s be honest, the Arnold and Son HM Perpetual Moon is certainly one of the nicest watch with indication of the moon. As we told you, most of the timepieces equipped with such a complication are usually featuring only a small aperture. Take a look at our moon phase section, and you’ll see that most of them are like that, sadly… But the Arnold and Son HM Perpetual Moon is different , you have a moon disc that is not 10mm or 12mm but a massive 29mm, displayed in an arched aperture that runs on the entire upper half of the dial, from 10 to 2. It is actually one of the largest moons on the market – with a diameter of 11.2 mm for the moon alone. Knowing the diameter of this moon, Arnold & Son had the possibility to play with it and to have a stunning recreation of the moon. It is a three-dimensional sculptured moon that was first hand-engraved and then duplicated for the series.

On this new stainless steel edition another one already is in the catalogue, with a black dial), Arnold & Son equips the HM Perpetual Moon with a vivid blue dial, made from a guilloche plate with wave pattern that is later lacquered in translucent blue, bringing a strong colour that lets appear the motif of the guillochage. The moon disc also receives this same finish, with the addition of silvered constellations. This blue dial is complemented by metallic applied indexes – large ones every five minutes and small dots for the minutes. Apart from the indication of the moon, the Arnold and Son HM Perpetual Moon is a simple 2-hand watch (hours and minutes).

Arnold & Son claims to have extremely precise moon phases, with only one day’s deviation every 122 years (that will be corrected by a single push on the corrector placed on the caseband). That’s great. But what if you can’t really adjust this indicator properly? The thing is that the moon on the dial has no track, no point of reference to make a precise adjustment. The solution is actually located on the movement side, where a second moon phases indicator is located, this time with a precise scale and representations of the cycle of the moon. The rest of the movement isn’t forgettable either, as the Calibre A&S1512 of the Arnold and Son HM Perpetual Moon features a double barrel for 90 hours of power reserve. As usual with this manufacture, finishing is very pleasant: manually chamfered bridges with polished edges, fine circular graining and Côtes de Genève rayonnantes, blued screws with polished and chamfered edges.

The Arnold and Son HM Perpetual Moon in stainless steel with a guilloche blue dial has a diameter of 42mm and will be delivered on a black alligator strap. Price has to be confirmed but expect around 15,000 Swiss Francs. www.arnoldandson.com.