For the past two years or so, Arnold & Son have been coming out with some excellent products. Thanks to their integration with movement-manufacturing sister company La Joux-Perret, Arnold & Son are able to produce pieces that are both visually striking and mechanically exquisite. Once such watch is the Arnold & Son Perpetual Moon unveiled a few months ago at Baselworld.
I don’t know why, but I have a weakness for watches with moon phase complications. It could be because us desert people have been following a lunar calendar for centuries, or it could be that childlike fascination with the moon we all share to some degree. Either way I’m always on the lookout for moon phase watches. As is often the case however, the lunar complication is usually added on as a complement to other complications, almost purely as decorative element. Okay, it’s not the most functional of complications to have on a watch, but it is in my opinion the most “romantic”. There are only a handful of watches out there with a moon phase as a unique stand-alone complication, and the Arnold & Son Perpetual Moon might be the most alluring of them all.
And what a moon it is! Measuring over 11mm, the sculpted three-dimensional moon is based on a hand-engraved original that is casted and duplicated for the production pieces. This is by far one of the largest and most accurately represented moons I’ve seen on any wristwatch. It sits on a guilloché disk (black or blue, depending on the model) measuring a substantial 29 in diameter, occupying almost half of the dial. I particularly like how the black moon phase disk blends in perfectly with the black guilloché dial on the steel model.
The polished case in steel or red gold measures 42mm wide and sits comfortably on the wrist thanks to it’s curved lugs. The corrector for the moon phase is found at the 4 o’clock position, though the owner probably won’t need it much since the Perpetual Moon requires only one correction every 122 years. But if you’re like me and don’t keep your watches running on winders, the movement contains a secondary moon phase with a graduated dial and pointer hand which make setting the moon phase much easier.
Speaking of the movement, the watch runs on the A&S1512 caliber, a 27-jewel movement where the moon phase function is integrated into the movement instead of just being a module added on to it. It is equipped with a double barrel delivering 90 hours of power reserve and is hand-decorated with rayonnantes or sunburst Côtes de Genève, finished in rhodium.
The Perpetual Moon showcases what Arnold & Son are all about: producing high-quality, beautifully finished timepieces with unique designs and exclusive movements. Available in 3 combinations of steel with a black guilloché dial, red gold with a cream dial and red gold with a blue guilloché dial (which unfortunately I didn’t get to photograph), the Perpetual Moon is priced at approximately 15’000 CHF for the steel model and 25’000 for the red gold models.
