The story of Arnold and Son starts from as early as 1760s about an English clockmaker with magnificent skills and technical knowledge.
He is John Arnold He helped created many timepieces for ships of the British King George III. He also invented many horological breakthroughs like the spring detent escapement, the bimetallic spring, and the helical balance spring.
In 1787, his son joined him in his profession and the company was founded. They continued to produce fascinating timepieces for ships and they were used by many great British explorers during their famous expeditions.
Today the company’s name is being used by The British Masters SA who spent many persistent years working to rejuvenate many of their watches.
Many of the famous British explorers had relied on the Arnold and Son maritime clocks in their greatest expeditions. It was only until 1998 that The British Masters SA represented Arnold and Son collections.
Their current collection focuses a lot on the company’s dedication to the world of navigation and travel. They developed a few famous collections with complicated movements that reflect the technical expertise and innovative strength of John Arnold.
The most well-known collection was the Longitude Timekeeper launched in 1999. This mens watch has the capability to provide its wearer the knowledge of its position at sea but also determine the North-South axis.
It has a secret back opening that functions to resolve the equation of time. It has a power reserve of 45 hours with a COSC certified chronometer.
Recently, of great significance was the new Longitude II. It was worn by Bear Grylls (an ex-special British Forces and also the youngest British to climb Mount Everest) during an Arnold and Son Explorer expedition.
He led a team of English crew using only an open inflatable boat to cross the North Atlantic near the Artic Circle totally unassisted.
It was quite incredible for the team to accomplish the task because their boat and the crews were subjected to fierce terrains and brutal weather conditions.
However, Bear Grylls, his crew and the inflatable boat successfully arrived in northern Scotland as per their planned route and longitudes. He clocked in with the Longitude II exactly at 3:30 pm on his arrival.
Another Timekeeper added to the family was Timekeeper III. It has a power reserve of 7 days with a power-reserve indicator situated at number 12, a seconds hand at number 6, and a date at number 3.
It has a transparent sapphire caseback and its case is made of rose gold. The power reserve interestingly indicates the time elapsed rather than time remaining in the watch before its rewound.
A great master piece was created during the 200th anniversary of the tourbillon, it was called the GMT Master Tourbillon. It is a manual winding mechanical watch with a power reserve of 110 hours.
It is a double GMT tourbillon that are indicated at 2:00 and 10:00. Its tourbillon escapement is clearly visible at 6:00. This mens watch comes in very limited numbers; only 25 pieces in 18-karat gold, 25 pieces in white gold, and 10 pieces in platinum.
Other interesting collections:
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