Celestial rays
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.
Technical Specifications
Functions
Movement
- Calibre:
- A&S1512 (view calibre)
- Jewels:
- 27
- Diameter:
- 34.00 mm
- Thickness:
- 5.35 mm
- Power reserve:
- 90 hours
- Frequency:
- 3 Hz / 21,600 vph
Dial
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:
- platinum (Pt950)
- Diameter:
- 41.5 mm
- Thickness:
- 11.30 mm
- Crystal:
- domed sapphire, with an anti-reflective coating on both sides
- Back:
- sapphire crystal, with an anti-reflecting coating
- Water resistance:
- 3 bar (30 metres/100 feet)
Strap
- Material:
- blue alligator leather, hand-stitched
- Buckle:
- pin buckle, platinum (Pt 950)
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Gallery
Frame of light
The Perpetual Moon 41.5’s cases in 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.
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.
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.
Perpetual Moon 41.5 Platinum is coupled with a salmon pink whose soft metallic radiance complements the rhodium-plated details on the dial.
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.