Arnold & Son has unveiled its new latest creation, which according to the brand is the world’s first wristwatch to include wandering hour and true beat seconds.
In an attempt to reflect the brand’s commitment to Haute Horlogerie, the Golden Wheel timepiece is a unique three-dimensional interpretation of the ancient wandering hour complication that has roots in table clocks of the mid-17th century.
Three years in the making from concept to development, the Golden Wheel joins the Instrument Collection, which pays tribute to the timepieces focused on chronometry that were developed during the second half of John Arnold’s life and with his son, Roger.
The wandering hours function (also known as a jumping digital hours indication) occupies the top arc of the watch dial (from 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock). Beneath it, the time-carrousel of the Golden Wheel is filled with a true beat seconds hand from the central axis. The true beat seconds (sometimes referred to as dead beat seconds) is a specialty of Arnold & Son. The precision function enables the seconds to beat incrementally as opposed to sweeping along the dial, allowing for more accurate reading.
Arnold & Son crafts the central time-carrousel in solid 18-carat red gold, thereby giving the watch its Golden Wheel name. The mother-of-pearl arc displays the current hour, as the sapphire disks with the hour numerals on them float over the arc. Gold arrows on the hour disks point to the minutes dial-frame located above the hours arc. Finally, the true beat seconds indication is displayed via a large graduated outer ring on the dial and read via the central golden hand.
