New York (March 26, 2024) — Arnold & Son explores uncharted horological territory with the new Longitude Titanium. The sport-ready COSC-certified 42.5 mm titanium timepiece pays homage to John Arnold’s famed historical chronometers and his pivotal contribution to maritime navigation.
The aesthetics and construction of John Arnold’s historic marine chronometers were necessarily classic, functional, and adapted to the harsh conditions of the high seas. Longitude Titanium, a contemporary interpretation of the great English watchmaker’s work, coherently combines this naval heritage with a refined design and highly durable materials. The movement’s ‘chronometer’ certification is an essential addition to this scene, with its historical ties to Arnold’s creations and his quest for accuracy.
ERGONOMIC SPIRIT
As a natural expression of this maritime identity, Longitude presents a titanium case whose curves and profile are directly inspired by the design of contemporary sailing boats. The case middle is taut like a ship’s waterline, while the case back is basin-shaped like a keel. The base of the bezel – the ship’s rail – is graduated with 60 notches, echoing the fluted ring of John Arnold’s marine chronometers. The finishes – polished on the flanks and satin-finished on the flat surfaces – continue this high-sea influence. The crown, protected by a shoulder, is screwed down to guarantee water-resistance to 100 meters.
CURVED SPIRIT
With its flowing curves, Longitude Titanium is both comfortable to wear and a joy to behold. Each of the series is fitted with an integrated titanium bracelet. Everything is rounded with no straight lines, even in the finer details, as the links themselves are domed. The succession of gentle curves and combination of polished and satin-finished surfaces are a continuation of the case’s identity. Longitude Titanium is complemented by an interchangeable system and comes with an additional rubber strap.
WATCHMAKING SPIRIT
The dial of Longitude Titanium has been designed in a graphic and historical spirit. This graphic aspect can be seen in the satin-finished, polished, and luminescent hour markers that recall the shape of the bracelet links. It is also graphic in the display of its indications, which are aligned with the vertical axis of the dial: a mirror-polished power-reserve indicator shown by cut-outs in the dial at 12 o’clock, the hour and minute hands in the center, and the imposing small seconds at 6 o’clock. However, this layout was also chosen for its ties to John Arnold’s marine chronometers, as it was he who introduced this arrangement and established it as standard.
CHROMATIC SPIRIT
Cornwall, John Arnold’s birthplace, inspired the colors of the Longitude dials. The first edition, limited to 88 timepieces, features a dial dressed in a sandy golden shade called ‘Kingsand’ in reference to the eponymous beach, which is one of the county’s hidden jewels. The second version sports an ocean blue dial, while the third and final dial in the series offers a fern green.
INVENTIVE SPIRIT
During the 18th century, maritime trade was the main source of wealth. New routes opened on the three major oceans, offering vast prospects. However, high-sea navigation was hampered by incomplete maps and charts and, above all else, by inaccurate longitude calculations – so that vessels could not accurately plot their position of boats on the east/west axis.
In 1714, the British Parliament passed the Longitude Act, which offered a prize of twenty thousand pounds to anyone who could develop a simple and dependable method for determining the longitude of a ship at sea. Briton John Harrison first invented the marine chronometer, used for centuries to come. His method involved measuring the difference between the local time on the boat, by finding solar noon, and the time of an onboard precision clock capable of keeping the time at the port of departure.
John Arnold further developed, improved, and simplified the principles presented by Harrison, and began producing his own marine chronometers in 1771, and their robust performance, extreme accuracy, and affordable price soon set Arnold’s chronometer’s apart as indispensable tools for high-sea navigation.
KINETIC SPIRIT
At the heart of Longitude Titanium beats the new A&S6302 caliber, certified by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC). It is wound by an oscillating weight with a design influenced by sailing. Its shape is reminiscent of the prow of an 18th-century English frigate cleaving through the water, and it is carved from a single block of 22-karat gold. Its felloe is engraved with graduations like those on a sextant – another maritime element.
MECHANICAL SPIRIT
The caliber is lavished with the same high standard of finishes associated with Arnold & Son, such as chamfered bridges with the house’s specialty ‘Rayons de la Gloire’ motif. Like all its movements, the A&S6302 was entirely developed, produced, decorated, assembled, adjusted, and finished at the Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds. This caliber features a large barrel and an oscillation frequency of 4 Hz, providing a 60-hour power reserve.
ABOUT ARNOLD & SON
Arnold & Son is named after John Arnold, a renowned English watchmaker of the 18th century. The golden age of maritime explorations and discoveries ushered this precision into a new technical ideal – determining longitude at sea. Its immediate corollary was the identification of local time, which changed constantly as the observer moved along an east-west axis. Astronomy, chronometry, and what we now call world time are thus inextricably linked within one and the same question, to which John Arnold and his son devoted their lives, their art, and their genius.
This is how these three dimensions – Astronomy, Chronometry and World Time – have come to be embodied in the House’s contemporary timepieces. Echoes of John Arnold’s inventions and preoccupations, these principles represent the foundations on which the Arnold & Son collections are based. The twenty-plus calibers presented to date by Arnold & Son have all been designed and developed in-house and produced by its sister manufacturer, La Joux-Perret in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland). This independence and creativity demonstrate the House’s ability to perpetuate John Arnold’s exceptional inventions.
For more information, visit arnoldandson.com.
