Our Swedish friends Patrik and Johan of GoS Watches have revealed their newest creation, the limited edition Aurora
The Aurora is a limited edition of just five pieces, however you’ll not be able to get one for the holiday season as they will be only available from the first half of 2014. The watch is inspired by the Northern Lights of Lapland, for those unfamiliar with the Northern Lights or their official name: Aurora Borealis is named after a Roman goddess and is a natural phenomenon where colorful lights swirl around the sky in a dramatic dance, leaving different patterns and shapes. Sometimes the shapes appear as fold upon fold of luminous draperies moving across the sky in dramtic patterns and ripples. Other times they are like huge flaming swords furiously slashing at the heavens.
Aurora’s Damascus steel dial has been tempered to a blue-green color and the flowing colored lines are framed by bright streaks. The white gold dial details and hands match the highlights on the dial. The movement is based on a chronometre grade Unitas 6498 that has been modified with 3/4 bridges made from one solid piece of handforged damascus steel. The steel pattern is similar to the woodgrain pattern that is used for the GoS caliber. The chaps at GoS Watches appreciate contrasts in designs and patterns, which is why Patrik chose to give the bridges a combination of traditional movement finishing on some surfaces and a more raw damascus steel on others.
Traditional high end movement finishing is time consuming. A similar amount of work is required to achieve the raw damascus steel surface. The bridges are mirror polished before the pattern is made visible by dipping the part in hot acid. The acid eats away from the surface of some steel types that has been forged into the patterned steel while others are not affected. This means that all surfaces where tolerances must be kept also have to be protected from the acid. The finishing continues after the etching procedure to give back some brightness to the pattern and increase the contrasts in the pattern itself. The polished bevels and holes are then finalized after the damascus steel surface is done.
The Aurora case features the trademark damascus steel cases that GoS watches are renowned for and also seen on the recently featured Midnight Sun model. It has the familiar curved surface of the damascus steel case core, the pattern is mirrored in a high gloss, with polished large case back and bezel. The curved lugs and a low height makes the watch comfortable to wear even though it is a good zised piece at 45mm in diameter.
The Gos Watches damascus steel cases are all individually finished through a process Patrik initially developed for Nordic Seasons and Winter Nights. It involves two etching procedures in hot acid and refinishing in between. It is only the visible parts of the case that are exposed to the acid to ensure that the case will have the same water protection as before the treatment.
The hands of the Aurora are made in solid white gold and have the GoS sword shape that originaly surfaced on the Stockholm model. The hands and index rings are hand finished with polished bevels and satinized top. These handmade GoS Nubuck straps are fitted with screwed lugs and are paired with a stainless steel GoS buckle.