Arnold & Son’s latest showpiece, called the Globetrotter Gold, is an exquisitely designed limited edition collection comprising just 28 pieces. The watches boast a precise sculpted representation of the planet on the dial surface, which is a beautiful tribute to John Arnold’s renowned legacy of marine chronometers.
It was the accuracy of watches that opened up the world via precise navigation of the seas. John Arnold’s Marine Chronometers were taken on 18th Century English Navy ships allowing mapping of the Oceans, so to pay tribute, Arnold & Son have created the Globetrotter Gold.
At 45 mm in diameter, the Globetrotter Gold is extensive, allowing all the beautifully crafted designs to be fully appreciated. The dome depicts the Northern Hemisphere in the centre, held by a large open-worked bridge carved in red gold. A visual signature of the Globetrotter, the arch houses a functional ruby having the axis of universal time in its centre.
The beautiful shaded blue dial surface reflects the sea on which the map of the world stands proudly—true elegance and visually pleasing, as are the appliqué indexes. It has also been hand lacquered using an extremely labour intensive process to build the layers to obtain the hues.
The ring Showing universal time is made with transparent sapphire, and the local times are denoted by red hands pointing to the gold indexes. The world times are identified by visualising an imaginary longitude from the ruby in the central bridge to the 24-hour sapphire ring.
The construction of the crossways bridge on the Globetrotter Gold is astonishing; classy and svelte. It is formed of one central piece in solid gold, with openwork taken to the extreme.
The flat parts of the arch have been polished, and its sides are satin-finished, accompanied by long chamfers bevelled surfaces. These types of finishes and quality achieved are synonymous with Arnold & Son calibres components. However, the dimensions of this bridge are considerably larger than they would be within a movement and thus demanded exceptional care and precision.
As mentioned earlier, the Globetrotter uses a larger than expected 45mm case. The surface area required extra space to accommodate detailing, such as placing the continents of North America, Eurasia, and Africa above the Equator. In reality, the continents form a single rhodium-plated, polished sculpture. To contrast this, the Atlas, Hoggar, Himalayan, Rocky, Ural and Alps mountain ranges benefit from a matt finish.
The oceans were constructed using hand painting. They were built using several blue-pigmented lacquer coats that contain pearlescent powder to emphasise the depth and shine.
A lighter blue colour denotes the coastlines, which also benefit from the addition of Super-LumiNova. Combining these two materials allows them to stand out in the dark and further accentuates the craftsmanship used to create them.
The Globetrotter Gold uses an in-house automatic 6022 calibre movement, developed, produced, decorated, assembled, adjusted and fitted at their plant in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The 6022 self-winding calibres are decorated with traditional delicate watchmaking motifs.
It contains a stippled main plate, radiant Côtes de Genève bridges, satin-finished wheels and bevelled, polished screws and benefits from a 45-hour power reserve. The Globetrotter Gold is Water-resistance to 30 metres/100 feet and displays Hours, minutes, and world times (24-hour ring). It comes with a blue alligator leather hand-stitched strap and 18-carat red gold (5N) pin buckle.
This timepiece is a work of art and acts as an Atlas of this Planet. The detail is exceptional, and you can understand the price after learning of the intricate detailing that has gone into creating a desirable watch.
The Arnold & Son Globetrotter Gold – Where and How?
This is a limited edition with just 28 pieces made available for purchase. The global retail price of the Globetrotter Gold is CHF 41,900, before taxes, subject to modification. You can learn more about the new timepiece collection at www.arnoldandson.com.
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