The Arnold & Son Double Tourbillon With Stone And Glass Dials

Arnold & Son is named after John Arnold, the celebrated 18^th-century English watchmaker whose precision marine chronometers were vital instruments to calculate longitude and used by navigators like James Cook on his voyages to the Pacific. The theme of reliable travel companions continues at Arnold & Son with its Double Tourbillon model offering two separate dials to display two different time zones powered by two independent tourbillon regulators. Introduced in 2014, the Double Tourbillon returns with a green malachite stone dial and a sparkling blue aventurine glass dial to suggest the cosmos.

The Double Tourbillon is, in essence, two watches rolled into one. Like so many models of Arnold & Son, the dial is governed by a strict sense of symmetry. Home time and local time are displayed vertically in two separate dials crafted in white opal and intersected by the dual tourbillons on an east-west axis. The dial at noon with classical Roman numerals and blue openworked arrow-tipped hands can be used to display local time, while the opal dial at 6 o’clock with Arabic numerals can be set to reference time.

Unlike most GMT watches, the beauty of Arnold & Son’s Double Tourbillon is that the hour and the minute hand can be adjusted independently on both dials meaning that time zones with unusual offsets – 15, 30 and 45 minutes – can be dealt with accurately.

Sharing identical specifications with earlier models, like this limited-edition Double Tourbillon Jade model, the polished 18k white gold cases of these new versions measure 43.5mm across and feature two crowns at 2 and 7 o’clock to adjust the independent time zone dials and wind the movements.

The new dials, crafted from blue aventurine glass and stripey green malachite, feature two large cutout areas at 3 and 9 o’clock to accommodate the double tourbillons. Bisecting the vertical symmetry of the dials, the twin tourbillons are attached to a three-dimensional, skeletonised, cantilevered white gold bridge. The tourbillon bridges are exquisitely finished with satin-brushed and mirror-polished surfaces.

The sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating protecting the dial is domed to accommodate the height of the two tourbillons. The caseback also has a sapphire crystal to view the movement.

Arnold & Son’s manual-winding double tourbillon movement is beautifully decorated with radiating Côtes de Genève stripes on the bridges, a pearlised mainplate, circular graining on the wheels and polished gold chatons. Produced by sister manufacture La Joux-Perret, the calibre beats at a frequency is 3Hz and the power reserve, spread across two barrels, is 90 hours.

The Double Tourbillon with a malachite dial comes with a hand-stitched green alligator strap with black lining; the aventurine model with a blue alligator with purple lining, both with an 18k white gold folding clasp. Each piece is unique and retails for CHF 226,200 (incl. tax).

For more information, please consult Arnoldandson.com.