This version was released for Baselworld 2017 and we shared our first impressions here. Here, we will go hands-on with the Arnold & Son DBG Skeleton and explore what makes this watch tick, besides, you know… the dual balances.When it comes to evaluating the significance of this view, I consider it crucial to check at the brand’s history. Arnold named this watch the “No. 1,” starting a naming convention he would use for his significant timepieces moving forward.By 1772, an Arnold “No. 3” chronometer was aboard Captain Cook’s boat when he set out for his next trip across the Pacific, and Arnold chronometers goes on to accompany many other significant voyages over the following decades. His son, John Roger Arnold, started studying watchmaking under Abraham-Louis Breguet at 1792 and joined his father’s company four decades later. Breguet became a great friend of John Arnold and the two collaborated on balance layouts, the overcoil balance spring, along with the tourbillon, although Arnold died in 1799 before this concept could be realized. To mourn his departure, Breguet introduced his son with all the very first tourbillon escapement mounted in an Arnold pocket chronometer, which also conveys a personal inscription and is now exhibited in the British Museum at London.
The Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph (Ref. IW392101/IW392103) is the first model in IWC’s history to combine a chronograph from the 89000 calibre family with the perpetual calendar’s moon phase display in a subdial at “12 o’clock”. To achieve this, both the moon and the shadow of the earth are depicted on a single disc and rotate beneath an aperture in the lower part of the subdial.
While creating the 89630 calibre, IWC’s present-day master watchmakers constantly re- ferred back to the old design blueprints that were their source of inspiration. But there was a significant challenge, as the moon phase in the IWC-manufactured 52610 calibre normally used for the perpetual calendar is located at “12 o’clock”. If the chronograph’s hour and minute coun- ters were to be placed there, the hands would go straight through the centre of the moon phase disc. The 89360 chronograph calibre, on the other hand, had no room for a moon phase. As a result, the engineers designed the 89630 calibre, combining the dual counters of the chronograph with the moon phase mechanism and displaying them on a single subdial. A glance through the transparent sapphire-glass back cover reveals the so- phisticated design of the movement, which has blued screws, a red gold rotor and various types of decorative polishing on the bridges.
IWC Schaffhausen introduced the first Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante (Ref. 3712) in 1995. The combination of the sporty double chronograph complication for simultaneously measuring two short periods of time and the elegant design of the Portugieser was a pioneering achievement. The model was last launched in 2006 and today IWC unveils three special limited-edition versions of this classic in honour of IWC boutiques in three European cities.
The Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante Edition “Boutique Milano” (Ref. IW371215), with a red gold case and blue dial, is limited to 100 pieces. Featuring a telemeterscale on the flange and a tachymeter scale on the inner circle of the dial, it is secured to the wrist by a hand-finished black alligator leather strap.
For Dubai Watch Week in November 2017, IWC Schaffhausen has launched an exclusive new watch for collectors in the Middle East, in partnership with Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons. The Portugieser Tourbillon Hand-Wound (Ref. IW546307), with its dark green dial, comes in a limited edition of just 25 watches. This watch, specially created for lovers of fine watchmaking, will be available in IWC’s regional stores from 1 December 2017.
The Arnold & Son UTTE Skeleton comes in a 42mm 5N red gold case, and it can be as exquisitely crafted as the movement. The dial area, which is the widest section, additionally features an additional sapphire glass to showcase that the caliber A&S8220 in all its glory. The bottom of the case is made narrower to fit snugly on the wrist.The Arnold & Son UTTE Skeleton watch will be limited to only 50 pieces, and every watch will include a hand-stitched brownish or black alligator leather strap with a fitting 5N reddish gold buckle using all the Arnold & Son emblem. Cost is $76,750. Arnold & Son creates some gorgeous moon phase watches, and there is a new piece from the collection with a new spin. With a 2nd three-dimensional moon, the Arnold & Son HM Double Hemisphere Perpetual Moon watch preserves the visual appeal of previous models but gives the wearer a view of the moon from both the southern and northern hemispheres. The elegant golden constellations along with the stunning blue guilloché dial make certain this piece fits in just perfectly with the remainder of the line and the brand as a whole.Measuring in at 42mm, the Arnold & Son HM Dual Hemisphere Perpetual Moon case is offered at 18 karat red gold, even though perhaps in the long run a stainless steel variant is going to be offered. Whatever the case, the gold with the deep azure guilloché dial is just simply beautiful. The three-dimensional moons themselves are 11.2mm, and are linked with the golden stars resulting in a totally mesmerizing look. Regal is the term to describe this dialup, and Arnold & Son have made a bit that will make fans completely salivate.
The Big Pilot’s Watch Annual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince” (Ref. IW502704) is the first and so far the only watch in the history of IWC with a blue movement. The manufacturing process required to make it has taken around 1.5 years to develop and refine. To give the IWC- manufactured 52850 calibre its striking blue colour, the plates and bridges have been coated with various metal oxides. The major challenge of this process was keeping the thickness of the coating consistent and achieving a completely even tone using the chemical vapour deposition technique (CVD). When combined with the blue screws and red gemstones, the blue movement creates the per- fect backdrop for the 18-carat red gold rotor: it depicts the little prince from the story with the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry standing on a planet staring out at the starry night sky.
In 2016, IWC took a step back towards the roots of the Big Pilot’s Watch and gave it a gentle facelift. The IWC-manufactured 51111-calibre movement unites some of watchmaking’s greatest achievements.
This article is literally the 5th or 6th time that I’ve written concerning the Arnold & Son Time Pyramid, therefore for regular readers, my apologies for repeating myself. With these sexy images of this Arnold & Son Time Pyramid Steel Translucent I couldn’t help but dive to the watch again. Along with the advantage of the specially coloured sapphire crystal caseback with this model, I think that the same approach can (and should) be used on additional skeletonized dial and movement watches. It actually becomes a real problem to inhibit the attractiveness of a fully skeletonized design together with the reality that if people wear these watches that they do not really want to stare in their very own skin through the dial.Inside that the Arnold & Son Time Pyramid is your brand’s in-house-made caliber A&S1615 manually wound mechanical movement I continue to love. It is not just that the motion is designed to look cool – although it’s – but rather the motion has some interesting mechanical features to boot. For instance, the double power reserve indicators are part of a system that uses 2 mainspring barrels to get a quasi-constant induce mechanism. The idea is that a primary mainspring barrel is utilized until it largely winds down. At the stage, the energy coming from it is too unreliable to power the equipment train for precise timekeeping. So, then the secondary mainspring barrel kicks in to ensure the most continuous power in order the A&S1615 motion is more precise across its 90 hours of power reserve.
When diving with oxygen tanks began to gain popularity, IWC introduced the first Aquatimer in 1967. This diver’s watch, water-resistant to 200 metres, had an internal rotating bezel for setting the dive time. In 2017 IWC celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Aquatimer family with the world’s first watch with a case made of Ceratanium®.
The Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month Edition “50 Years Aquatimer” (Ref. IW379403) is limited to just 50 pieces. Its most striking feature is the Ceratanium® case, which experts at IWC have been working on for more than five years. The special manufacturing process gives the metal a black, ceramic-like surface. Ceratanium® is both light and unbreakable like titanium, but also as hard and scratch-resistant as ceramic. The material also scores well for its high skin tolerance and corrosion resistance.
The Aquatimer collection by IWC is celebrating its 30th birthday with the launch of a new model that the brand decided to clothe in an all-black livery. To achieve this, it devoted five years of R&D to developing a new material more resistant than a DLC-treated metal, the solution generally used in the watch industry for black cases. Ceratanium®, a titanium alloy featuring a ceramic surface, boasts the combined advantages of the two materials in terms of lightness, sturdiness as well as resistance to scratching and corrosion.
Even though Fabian Cancellara had been a friend of IWC for a decade, it is only since “Spartacus” retired that IWC were able to organise their first event with the double Olympic and quadruple world time trial champion. Fittingly, the “Spartacus Ride” was organised in his home town of Berne and allowed a select group of cycling enthusiasts, who had qualified at events organised by the Holmes Place gyms in Zurich and Geneva, to join Cancellara on his favourite training route along the Emme valley. Your editor-in-chief was lucky enough to join them for the ride, fortunately assisted by the powerful electric motor of a Trek Supercommuter+ 8S, which, when switched to “sport” mode, allowed him to power past the peloton on the final climb, not without a tinge of guilt.
Nico Rosberg has been an IWC ambassador since 2013, when, together with Lewis Hamilton, he became the first driver to join IWC’s family of ambassadors. This year IWC releases the Ingenieur Chronograph “Tribute to Nico Rosberg” to honour the world champion 2016 Formula One driver.
Nico Rosberg wearing «his» Ingenieur Chronograph «Tribute to Nico Rosberg» © IWC
The IWC-manufactured chronograph comes in an 18-carat red gold case, measuring 42mm in diameter, and was was designed by Rosberg himself in collaboration with Christian Knoop, Creative Director at IWC Schaffhausen. A special feature of this watch is its see-through sapphire-glass back, which is printed with the “NICO” lettering from Rosberg’s helmet.