Arnold & Sons Collectors Dinner 18Dec12 Singapore

I was fortunate enough to be invited down by the organiser and mate to this collectors dinner so my thanks to Mr. Hororgasm and the folks from Arnold & Sons at the dinner, Mr.Denis Martinet & Mr. Philippe Boven.

Denis sharing with us on the pieces that they brought with them. an interesting point shared was how citizen had bought the group owning la joux perret, a movement supplier for several Swiss brands, and in turn also now own Arnold & Sons

Philippe was seated at my table and was a font of knowledge on the complications(sharing with us on sidereal time and true beat seconds) and history and most seemingly most everything about Arnold & Sons

& Mr Hororgasm sporting his Arnold & Son timepiece, clearly a happy camper

To learn more about the brand and their offerings do check out their site here -> LINK
there is a lot of good information in the link so i won't be going into in-depth info on the pieces but just introduce them here with live pics and you can definitely find out more info on their site on the timepiece and the calibre. so on to the watches then!

first off the tb88 - "The number is replicated by the design of the movement in this latest model, with its perfectly symmetrical layout featuring the twin barrels at the top, the balance wheel between 4 and 5 o'clock and the True Beat seconds indicator between 7 and 8. The watch movement is 'inverted', which means that the intricate, technically interesting features are visible on the dial side of the movement instead of being hidden away on the reverse. This showcases the two barrels, which generate a full 100 hours' power reserve when fully wound, and the Breguet overcoil balance spring."

movement - it has an"'English' design, expressed through features like the straight-cut bridges. Each of the pivoting elements in the movement is mounted on its own bridge, 16 in total. Further shining examples of watchmaking at its finest are the hand-bevelled and polished edges of the bridges and other key parts of the mechanism, together with the juxtaposition of the black ruthenium or NAC grey movement and brushed components"

wristshot - 46mm

next up the TBR (True Beat & Retrograde date)... i really like this piece and the steel one on their site looks great too. it features the first automatic movement with an integrated True Beat system(some refer to this as dead seconds) to be developed, designed and manufactured entirely at the workshops in La Chaux-de-Fonds

nicely finished automatic movement - "The True Beat seconds - a hark-back to the precision required by navigators on the high seas - is a rarely found complication these days, and its combination with an automatic winding system calls for enormous technical expertise. In the TBR it was made possible by a worldwide patented system comprising a sophisticated double wheel, an oscillating pinion and a pallet mechanism. This complex solution calls for virtually microscopic precision (to tolerances of a micron, or one thousandth of a millimetre) and the key parts are made using state-of-the-art LIGA fabrication technology. LIGA is a German acronym that stands forLithographie, Galvanoformung, Abformung- lithography, electroplating and moulding - and describes the sequence of processes used to produce metal parts made of nickel and nickel phosphorus."

DBS - Displays mean solar and sidereal time on two separate subdials "a mean sidereal day is about 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.091 seconds, which is not a round fraction of the 24 hours in a mean solar day. This means it is virtually impossible to obtain the correct rotation speed using gears. To guarantee the kind of precision demanded by Arnold & Son, the only choice was to create a movement with the correct rotation speed from the start: in other words a movement specifically for sidereal time.

The answer was a totally new movement with a double barrel/gear train and double balance/escapement running at different speeds that enables the watch to display mean solar time and mean sidereal time simultaneously. This technical solution has the additional advantage that neither of the two indications saps energy from the other."

wristshot - 44mm case

DBG - "the Instrument DBG Equation GMT features two separate time displays, each driven by its own barrel and gear train with its own escapement and balance. This highly unusual technical specification permits the two displays to be set independently of each other."

nice symmetry to the movement - "The view from the back reveals a pleasingly balanced arrangement of bridges, barrels and gear trains."

wristshot - 44mm

and the HMS1, a member of the royal collection - "With its understated simplicity, the HMS1 line is a modern take on Arnold & Son's traditionally elegant design combined with superior craftsmanship. Housed in a classically styled 40 mm case with see-through back"

movement - the hand-wound A&S1001 calibre is manufactured in-house and decorated with either straight or radiating (rayonnantes) Côtes de Genève guilloche. mirror-polished screws in the NAC grey version below and blued screws in the rhodium-plated movement