Arnold & Son Presents Its New Watches Perpetual Moon 41.5 Red Gold & Perpetual Moon 41.5 Platinum: Celestial Rays

A white mother-of-pearl star in a midnight-blue sky. The astronomical moon phases showcase Arnold & Son’s creativity and aesthetic flair. Perpetual Moon 41.5 is presented in two new interpretations, in red gold and platinum. Its dial features a unique motif, Stellar Rays, as befits this astronomical complication.

Arnold & Son explores the theme of moon phases with its constant eye for detail and decoration. Two new editions of Perpetual Moon take advantage of the watchmaker’s recent developments in the fields of cases, dials and finishes. These references further enhance the collection of giant moons by this most British of Swiss brands.

Perpetual Moon 41.5 Red Gold joins the permanent collection, while the platinum version is produced in a limited edition of 28 timepieces.

Frame of light

The Perpetual Moon 41.5’s cases in 18-carat (5N) red gold or 950 platinum have been redesigned. The lugs have been simplified so that instead of their original cross shape, they now present a tauter form of plunging bars with bevelled ends. The case, previously measuring 42 mm, is reduced to 41.5 mm without affecting the size of the dial. This has reduced the width of the bezel, drawing attention to the dial, its finishes, and its vast moon.

Furrows of light

The dials on these new creations present a unique finish known as Stellar Rays, its aesthetic obtained through skilfully irregular engraving. Several depths and widths of rays coexist and follow on from one another, creating their own rhythm, each generating a fluctuating interplay of light and a depth obtained by applying several layers of transparent lacquer.

This unique effect is employed in two forms. Perpetual Moon 41.5 Red Gold is combined with a dense, deep blue adorned with gold edging on the moon aperture, together with golden hands and hour markers. Perpetual Moon 41.5 Platinum is coupled with a salmon pink whose soft metallic radiance complements the rhodium-plated details on the dial.

Circles of light

Realistically depicted with hand-painted shadows, the large moon is enhanced with a luminescent material that is particularly intense in darkness yet invisible in daylight, giving way to the white mother-of-pearl disc. It is set against a blue PVD-treated grained sky and is surrounded by the constellations of the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia, also hand-painted and coated with Super-LumiNova.

The constellations have been chosen as a direct reference to John Arnold’s history as a maker of naval chronometers. The Big Dipper and Cassiopeia have been used by navigators in the northern hemisphere since time immemorial to find their bearings and locate the North Star (Polaris). The position of the latter defines the North and its angular altitude, or position in the North-South plane, and allows the distance to the equator, i.e., latitude, to be estimated.

Accuracy of light

On the case back, a secondary indicator allows the moon phase to be adjusted quickly and precisely. The hand-wound calibre that powers it, reference A&S1512, can track the development of its segments with exceptional precision. The duration of a complete lunar cycle is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds. Arnold & Son has succeeded in representing it in such a way that it would take 122 years for this movement, if regularly wound, to accumulate a day’s difference between its display and celestial reality.

Like all Arnold & Son movements, the A&S1512 calibre has been entirely developed, manufactured, decorated, assembled, adjusted and cased at the Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The calibre features two barrels and an oscillation frequency of 3 Hz, providing a power reserve of 90 hours.

Technical specifications - Perpetual Moon 41.5 Red Gold & Perpetual Moon 41.5 Platinum

Functions:

- Hours, minutes, astronomical moon phases, second moon-phase indicator on the back

Movement:

- Calibre: A&S1512, mechanical with manual winding
- Jewels: 27
- Diameter: 34 mm
- Thickness: 5.35 mm
- Power reserve: 90 hours
- Frequency: 3 Hz / 21,600 vph
- Finishes:

   - mainplate: rhodium-plated, Côtes de Genève stripes radiating from the centre
   - bridges: polished and chamfered 
   - wheels: circular satin-finished
   - screws: blued and chamfered, polished heads 
   - second moon-phase indicator: rhodium-plated and circular-grained

Dial:

- ‘Stellar Rays’ decor, with blue or salmon-pink PVD treatment

Moon phases:

- Sky: grained, with blue PVD treatment
- Constellations: hand-painted, with added Super-LumiNova
- Moon: mother-of-pearl disc coated with Super-LumiNova, hand-painted details

Case:

- Material: 18-carat (5N) red gold or 950 platinum
- Diameter: 41.5 mm
- Thickness: 11.30 mm
- Crystal: domed sapphire, with an anti-reflective coating on both sides 
- Case back: sapphire crystal, with an anti-reflecting coating
- Water-resistance: 30 m / 100 ft

Strap:

- Materials: blue alligator leather, hand-stitched
- Buckle: pin buckle, 18-carat (5N) red gold or 18-carat white gold

References:

- Red gold: 1GLBR.U01A.C200A
- Platinum: 1GLBX.P01A.C200W

Editions:

- Red gold: unlimited
- Platinum: 28 timepieces

Swiss retail prices: 

- Red gold: CHF 34,500 including taxes (subject to change)
- Platinum: CHF 46,500 including taxes (subject to change)