Over the past few months and leading up to Baselworld 2016 that will commence in just a few weeks time, Arnold & Son has been releasing a handful of new versions of some of their most emblematic pieces, such as the DSTB (Dial Side True Beat).

A unique take on the dead-beat seconds mechanism and as far as I know, the only watch to feature the mechanism on the dial side of the watch, the DSTB is all about architecture and volume (you can find my review of the original 250th Anniversary version  here).

The first new version comes in a white gold case with a vibrant blue PVD-treated dial plate.

(In this photo I went for a longish exposure to try and capture the sharp tick-tock action of the true beat seconds hand).
One of the new features of this DSTB version is the rotor, done in 22-carat red gold decorated with a guilloché pattern.

The second version of the DSTB is the recently announced red gold version with a frosted dial plate.

A contemporary take on a traditionally English type of  finishing, the rough and uneven yet delightfully lustrous “frosted” finish is obtained by manually brushing the surface with a wire brush. And while such a finish is usually applied on raw brass or gold-plated components, Arnold & Son do it on a grey-plated nickel-silver plate before being milled and drilled, making it that much more arduous to get a perfect dial at the end of the process.

These two references of the DSTB will be limited to 125 pieces in each version, with a price of USD $51,500 for the white gold with blue dial plate and understandably a little bit more for the red gold with frosted dial.

More information on www.arnoldandson.com