Called Arnold & Son HM Perpetual Moon watch replica, the watch features an in-house hand-wound movement with one of the most handsome moonphase display that I have seen in my life. Besides the stately Arnold & Son HMS1 Royal Blue that some of us will see in flesh during the Baselworld 2013 show, the Swiss-based brand of British origin is going to present this week yet another gorgeous model.
While a great number of manufacturers still prefer to equip their timekeepers with either smiling or frowning moons, this one seems to very accurately depict an actual surface of our natural satellite the way we see it from Earth. Called Caliber A&S1512, the movement is equipped with an oversized “moon disk” whole 29 millimeters in diameter with a brilliantly sculpted face of the moon almost half an inch in size.
As far as I understand it from the press release, there was only one “master” disk that was done by hand, while the others are simply replicated using an industrial process. Well, that doesn’t look like a drawback to me: it not only makes the best quality Arnold & Son copy watch easier to manufacture, but also allows the brand to slightly reduce its price to a more competitive level while keeping the profit margin intact.
Like many moon-phase watches that were introduced during the last four or five years (check this gorgeous Bulgari Daniel Roth Grande Lune or the elegant Perrelet Big Central Moonphase (ref. A5000/2) for example), the caliber is equipped with a complicated “perpetual moon” mechanism that allows for just one day deviation in a course of 122 years. When the mistake occurs, your great-grandson will only have to press once a corrector pusher to make the watch run without error for the next 122 years.
Although the movement is not very bulky, theArnold & Son HM Perpetual Moon is a little bigger than a normal dress watch measuring 42 millimeters in diameter. Still, if you have a normal wrist, it will possibly look good on you.
Now, the bad news: Arnold & Son plans to charge for this beauty more than 15,000 Swiss francs (and we are talking about the version in steel!), which makes it one of the most expensive “simple” watches on the market even with an inevitable discount that you will probably be able to negotiate. Still, the timekeeper seems to be absolutely worth every penny that A&S wants for it.
Photos: Arnold & Son
Arnold & Son HM Perpetual Moon watch specification
Price: CHF 15,120 / USD 15,300
Movement: Manual, A&S1512, in-house, 34mm x 5.35 mm, two barrels, Swiss Made
Number of jewels: 27 jewels
Movement frequency: 21,600 vph
Power reserve: 80 hours
Movement decoration: Hand-finished, rhodiumed, Geneva stripes and perlage
Functions: Hours, minutes, large moonphase
Case material: Rose gold / Stainless steel
Bezel material: Matches case
Crown material: Matches case
Case shape: Round
Bezel shape: Round
Case size: 42.00 mm
Case height: No data
Lug width: No data
Dial: Blue (Ref. 1GLAR.U04A.C122A) / Cream (Ref. 1GLAR.I01A.C122A) / Black (Ref. 1GLAS.B01A.C122S)
Numerals: None
Hour markers: Applied
Hands: Sword-shaped
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Hand-stitched brown or black alligator leather strap
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Case back: Sapphire, antireflective
By the way, as you can see on the photos, the back of the movement has a special indicator that will allow you to set the complication as accurate as possible: a very nice feature that we rarely see on mechanical Arnold & Son replica watches.