Pre-Baselworld 2016 – Introducing the Arnold and Son Eight-Day Royal Navy

As we have already showed to you, Arnold and Son is a manufacture capable of extremely complicated movements, like the Constant Force Tourbillon or the Double Tourbillon Escapement Dual Time Watch. Not your usual kind of watches, you’ll have to admit. However, these are not easily accessible watches (to say the least). What if this manufacture had the idea of a simpler, more affordable timepiece, mixed with the roots of the brand, a British DNA and a tradition of building marine chronometers? The result will be showed during Baselworld 2016, in the name of the Arnold and Son Eight-Day Royal Navy.

The roots of the actual manufacture Arnold & Son can be found back in the 18th century, when John Arnold was delivering robust, reliable and highly precise marine chronometers to navigators, in order to determine longitude on the high seas. This marine background is fully integrated in the actual collection deployed by the brand, with many watches inspired by antique chronometers, such as the Arnold and Son TBR we reviewed. These roots are not only visible in the complications used but also in the overall design created by Arnold and Son, especially in the Royal Collection – the Instrument collection also boasts these attributes but with different kinds of complications. Continuing with its rich British history, the brand introduces for Baselworld 2016 a new eight-day power reserve watch, the Arnold and Son Eight-Day Royal Navy, with inspiration from the timepieces commissioned by King George III.

Like antique marine chronometers, the Arnold and Son Eight-Day Royal Navy features a clean dial with classical layout, showing a separated sub-dial for the seconds and a power reserve indicator. It also features a date, something rather unusual at Arnold and Son, which is discreetly integrated at 6, with a disc matching the color of the dial. The Arnold and Son Eight-Day Royal Navy is completely integrated in the Royal Collection as its hands and its indexes have already been used in several other watches (like the HM Perpetual Moon). Same goes for the guilloche dial with a wave pattern, classical to the brand. On top of this pattern is applied a translucent lacquer, in a choice of silver, blue or black.

The Arnold and Son Eight-Day Royal Navy features a rather large case (a sort of norm for marine chronometers, to help legibility) made of stainless steel and measuring 43mm x 10.7mm, a relatively reasonable thickness. The case is entirely polished with a classical round shape and viewed from the side, the case is stepped and tapers from top to bottom, to enhance the visual thinness. Nice detail: the satin-finished inserts in the horns can be dismantled during servicing and re-satinized if necessary. It naturally features an anti-reflective sapphire crystal and case back, which allows a view on the most interesting part of the Arnold and Son Eight-Day Royal Navy: the new movement.

Inside this elegant marine-inspired watch ticks a brand new, in-house designed and assembled 8-day power reserve movement. The A&S1016 calibre is equipped with a highly efficient twin barrel mounted in parallel. Alongside its nice technical features, this new movement impresses also with its look and finishing. The bridges are widely opened to reveal the technical elements (escapement, barrels and wheels). The bridges are adorned with rayonnates Geneva stripes, rhodium plated and edges are chambered and polished. The main plate features the traditional fine circular graining. Finally, screws are blued and critical jewels (those holding the barrels and the intermediate wheel) are inserted in solid gold chatons, secured with blued screws. This movement is large (33mm) but rather thin (4.7mm), considering the large power reserve.

3 editions of the Arnold and Son Eight-Day Royal Navy will be available, all in stainless steel: