With Baselworld just around the corner, many brands have sent out teasers of their upcoming premieres, showing parts of cases, complicated movements or simply a silhouette. Not Arnold & Son….they delivered their first punch before Baselworld 2014 has even officially started with the introduction of their new Instrument CTB. And they are going for a first round knock out!
Arnold & Son is on a roll! With watches like the UTTE Tourbillon and their recently introduced HM Horses set, they show not only technological capability but also aesthetic prowess. The new Instrument CTB embodies both qualities to the fullest! First there is the aesthetic, where Arnold & Son went for a sober, functional design, yet the result embodies pure perfection. It is balanced, clean, and functional but with a nice dose of vintage chic..real vintage chic since the watch is by no means retro. With a diameter of 44mm it is not a small watch, and in real life, for which we need to really wait until Baselworld opens its doors, it might actually look even larger since the uncluttered dial has a large expanse of open space.
These spaces serve as a steppe, to highlight those feature of the watch that really matters. For example the small dial at twelve o’clock that shows the hours and minutes with Roman numerals and surrounded by a railroad track. By recessing this small dial in the slanted inner ring it adds dimension and substance to the watch. This is further amplified by the different finishes that Arnold & Son has applied to the dial. At six o’clock we find another sub dial, this time divided in 60 segments indicated by Arabic numerals. However, it does not show, as one might expect, the running seconds, but serves instead as the minute counter for the chronograph.
With this watch, Arnold & Son has done something amazing! In it’s center the watch is fitted with not one, but two seconds hands. One is indicating the seconds for the regular time, while the other serves as the seconds hand for the chronograph. Unique here is that the seconds hand ticks in true beat, jumping from one second to the next, while the chronograph seconds hand runs continuously. Being at the same axle this is quite an accomplishment in a technical sense for Arnold & Son. Aesthetically it is very pleasing! The long, thin hands running, if not racing, over the dial like wild horses over a steppe. One in distinct beats, while the other tries to overtake in a more fluid motion.
This visual spectacle would not be possible without caliber A&S7103. Protected by two patents the movement features a column wheel supporting the chronograph function and an bi-directional winding rotor on ceramic ball bearings. Important is also the fact that the movement runs at 28,800 bph. A movement beating this fast ensures that the chronograph seconds hand runs smoothly over the dial, especially important with watches that feature a larger diameter like this Instrument CTB. As is the case with all Arnold & Son watches, the movement in the Intrument CTB finished with great care. Hand-chamfered bridges and polished edges, fine circular graining and Côtes de Genève rayonnantes, circular satin-finished wheels, screws with bevelled and mirror-polished heads; you name it and this Arnold & Son has it.
Coming with, as well, a steel case and glare proof coating on both sides of the sapphire crystal Arnold & Son also clearly indicates that this watch is ready for a more active lifestyle. Combined with it’s great legibility, it most certainly will allow you to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”
Martin Green
Eclectic taste in Haute Horlogerie, passion for diamond set watches, loves the classics
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