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Arnold & Son Introduces The Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Escapement

April 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Baselworld 2013: Arnold & Son Novelty

Arnold & Son is revealing some Baselworld 2013 novelties already, like this Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Escapement timepiece. Or UTTE, as they call it at Arnold & Son in La Chaux-de-Fonds. They claim the UTTE to be the thinnest tourbillon wristwatch on the market with a case that’s only 8.34mm thick. The mechanical hand-wound movement caliber A&S8200 is only 2.97mm thick (or thin).

Arnold & Son Introduces The Ultra Thin Tourbillon Escapement

Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Escapement

The tourbillon complication plays an important role in the history of Arnold & Son. John Arnold, founder of Arnold & Son and watchmaker who was born in 1736 in Cornwall, was very close to Abraham-Louis Breguet. The first tourbillon escapement that Breguet developed was used for John Arnold’s no.11 movement. This watch can be admired in the British Museum in London.

Therefore, the Arnold & Son UTTE timepiece fits perfectly to the brand’s heritage. The thinnest tourbillon watch has been entirely developed in-house in the beautiful surroundings of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

Not visible on the images in this article, but hopefully in the photos we can take during our Baselworld encounter with Arnold & Son this coming week, is the fact that the flying tourbillon cage is positioned on the same height as the hour and minute hand in the time indicator dial in the upper half of the UTTE’s dial. To achieve this, the flying tourbillon cage has been lifted a bit out of the movement.

Arnold & Son Introduces The Ultra Thin Tourbillon Escapement

Two Versions, 50 Pieces Each

Besides the impressive technical aspects of the Arnold & Son UTTE timepiece, we feel it is also a stunning timepiece because of the sleek case design and beautiful silvery-white Côtes de Genève rayonnates dial.

There are two versions of this UTTE timepiece; an 18 carat rose gold version as pictured above and a palladium case. Both versions of the UTTE have the same technical specifications but different dials and the movement also received a different treatment. The red gold UTTE has a rhodium treated movement and the palladium version has a grey(-ish) treatment. Arnold & Son calls it a NAC treatment, but we have to ask them in Baselworld what that exactly means.

Arnold & Son gave the hand-wound movement caliber A&S8200 a real haute horlogerie treatment with its hand-engraved tourbillon bridge, chamfered bridges with polished edges, fine circular graining and Côtes de Geneve, blued screws with bevelled and mirror-polished heads. The tourbillon cage has a satin-finish with chamfered and polished edges. The movement is 32mm in diameter and perfectly fits into the 42mm watch case. The tourbillon cage alone is 14mm, making it very visible for the wearer of this piece.

Because of the double barrel, this Arnold & Son Ultra-Thin Tourbillon Escapement watch has a power reserve of 80 hours. Quite useful for a hand-wound watch.

More information can be found at www.arnoldandson.com and as promised, we will get back to you with more information on this manufacture from La Chaux-de-Fonds when we’re back from Baselworld. For live footage on the Baselworld exhibition, make sure to follow us on instagram (@fratellowatches or instagram.com/fratellowatches).

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Filed Under: Arnold & Son, BaselWorld and SIHH Novelties Tagged With: , , ,

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication 44mm – SIHH 2013

February 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Royal Oak Offshore

Audemars Piguet’s most popular collection is without a doubt the Royal Oak. Even more precise, the Royal Oak Offshore collection. This more sporty version of the traditional Royal Oak watches, was introduced in 1993.

The Royal Oak Offshore chronographs and Offshore diving watches are the ones we already had seen in the past and now Audemars Piguet introduced the Royal Oak Offshore masterpiece: The Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication in 44mm. This Grande Complication features a minute repeater, perpetual calendar, split-second chronograph, hours, minutes and small seconds.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication 44mm SIHH 2013

Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication in Pink Gold and Titanium

This watch is definitely not for the weak hearted watch enthusiasts out there. Especially the 44mm 18 carat pink gold case of the Offshore Grande Complication ref. 26571RO.OO.A010CA.01 will be a heavy watch to wear in every respect. However, as shown on the photo above, there will also be a titanium version of the Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication, the ref. 26571IO.OO.A010CA.01.

The differences in execution are very little but due to the use of different colours it appears to be a different watch. The pink gold version has white rubber chronograph pushers, a white rubber crown and the dial has pink gold hour markers. Also, the pink gold version comes on a white rubber strap. The titanium version is the one that we cover here on Fratellowatches.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication 44mm SIHH 2013

Minute Repeater With An External Amplifier

The wooden box of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication is almost as impressive as the watch itself. A very large wooden box that contains a long round watch holder made out of (balsa?) wood. It has the same function as a soundboard of a guitar, in this case to amplify the sound of the minute repeater.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication 44mm SIHH 2013

AP Caliber 2885

The minute repeater is a complication that makes the horological heart tick faster. Operated by the slide on the left side of the Offshore case, as can be seen in the photo above.

The movement of this watch, AP caliber 2885, consists of 648 parts and besides the minute repeater, features a perpetual calendar, split-second chronograph and of course hours, minutes and seconds. With a diameter of 31.6mm and a height of 8.95mm, this is quite a large movement. However, if you consider the fact that it has 648 parts and all these complications, it is still micro engineering of course. With complicated timepieces like this and the recently introduced Tradition Tourbillon Minute Repeater Chronograph Audemars Piguet clearly demonstrates they play in the highest league of fine watchmaking.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication 44mm SIHH 2013

 

Luxury Sports Watch

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak (Offshore) is a luxury sports watch, it always has been. The fine combination of brushed and polished finish on case and bracelets does not allow you to use this watch for sports activities without having to shed some tears afterwards because your watch got scratched or dinged.

The black ceramic is a welcome solution to prevent the octagonal bezel from scratching, but the biggest worry is about the case of course. The bezel is easier and cheaper to replace at some point. However, if you treat this AP Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication nicely, it will be nice to you as well and will keep its fresh appearance.

Another important feature of this ref. 26571IO.OO.A010CA.01 with respect to luxury is that there will only be three of them. The same goes for the pink gold ref. 26571RO.OO.A010CA.01 version. Another example is the finish of the skeleton caliber 2885 movement. Executed by a single artisan, more than 820 hours are being spend on completing this mechanical wonder.

The sapphire dial gives a perfect view on the movement, something a watch connoisseur will appreciate at all times. Especially, when the timepiece has this level of finish.

Although I personally have a slight preference for the Tradition Tourbillon Minute Repeater Chronograph when it comes to the SIHH 2013 novelties, with both timepieces Audemars Piguet is showing the world what they are capable of.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication 44mm SIHH 2013

More information can be found on: www.audemarspiguet.com

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Filed Under: Audemars Piguet, BaselWorld and SIHH Novelties Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Armin Strom Tourbillon Water

February 13, 2013 by 1 Comment

Armin Strom, we already knew him because of his magnificent engraving and skeleton work on some OMEGA watches in the past. Aside his work for other watch companies, Armin Strom has been a watch manufacturer for decades. The Armin Strom collection of watches is simply stunning. Ever since we visited them during BaselWorld 2010, we know that it is not only about decoration and engraving, but about fine watchmaking in all aspects.

The design of the watches is very modern, but as you are able to see the perfectly finished movement through the skeleton dials, it also shows their pure love for fine watchmaking. Armin Strom’s collection of watches, based on Air, Water, Fire and Earth, now also features a complete Tourbillon collection.

Armin Strom Tourbillon Water

The Armin Strom Tourbillon Water (reference ST13-TW.50) features the ATC11 caliber movement which has been designed and developed in-house in Biel, at Armin Strom AG. This handwound movement consists of 184 parts and has double spring barrels and a 10-day power reserve. The time is indicated decentralized as you can see.

Like all other Armin Strom watches (except for some models from their Racing collection), parts of the beautifully decorated movement can be admired through the skeletonised dial. The signature of the brand. We’ve found a video of Armin Strom’s work on movement decoration and skeletonising, as you can see below.

We will make sure to cover Armin Strom’s latest work when we are in BaselWorld this year. In the meanwhile, more information can be found here: www.arminstrom.com

Article written by Robert-Jan Broer for .

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Filed Under: Armin Strom Tagged With: ,
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