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The Moon was and it will always be a fascinating appearance in the night’s sky. It is since the oldest times associated with fantastic and supernatural beings and now it’s the boy’s dream of exploration.
For some of us, the Moon is desired at the wrist as a horological complication, as another sign of the passing time.
For today, a special watch with a place in my heart – the HM Perpetual Moon from Arnold & Son.
I always considered the moon phase placement a 12 o’clock the best position, since for me it is one of the most important elements from a watch dial and, especially around the full moon, I like to take a look at the moon phase subdial. But this HM Perpetual Moon is more than that: it’s using a third of the total dial surface just to magically steal your gaze.
The Ref. 1GLAR.I01A.C122A it’s a lovely watch, that maybe you don’t notice on a frugal look, but it will capture your attention fast.
That gorgeous cream dial with the translucent blue lacquered guilloché moon disc with a full of details golden moon and the golden stars will rapidly make you fall under the spell of the Moon.
The perpetual Moon’s disc has a diameter of 29 mm and the diameter of the moon is 11.2 mm and that’s a big Moon. The fine details of the Moon are lovely and it makes you feel that you have the Moon at your wrist.
The dial’s face has applied gold hour indexes and painted minutes indexes with gold sword hands with half polished, half brushed finish. The Arnold & Son logo has a central position at the lower side of the dial. The entire look is pleasant and emphasises the moon phase dial.
The Ref. 1GLAR.I01A.C122A case is in 18-carat red gold with a diameter of 42mm and 30m water resistance. A nice touch are the brushed finishes from the sides of the elegant lugs that brake any chance of monotony. The case uses cambered sapphire with anti-reflective coating on both sides for the top and a case back with see-through sapphire crystal.
At a closer, detailed look, the case construction reveals a lot of edges and surfaces, showing a very complex attention for details. To make everything more interesting, the crown also has an entire range of details, ending triumphantly with the Arnold & Son logo embossed.
The caliber used in this watch, the A&S1512, is an exclusive Arnold & Son mechanical hand-wound movement: a diameter of 34 mm and a thickness of 5.35 mm, with 27 jewels, it has a heart beating with a rather slow 3Hz / 21600vph and a power reserve 90 h using two barrels.
The movement is nickel-silver, rhodium treated with Haute Horlogerie finishing: manually chamfered bridges with polished edges and rayonnantes (sun-rayed) Côtes de Genève starting from the balance wheel’s centre, fine circular graining on the main plate, blued screws with bevelled and mirror-polished heads.
“The 27 jewel calibre offers one of the most accurate moon phases on the market, with only one day’s deviation every 122 years – at which point a single push on the corrector will keep it in sync for another 122 years” – Arnold & Son Website
A second moon-phase indication is present on the back side for a better and easier moon phase set up. “The watch also has a unique easy-to-set feature thanks to the ingenious addition of a second moon indication installed at the back of the movement. This second moon display, visible via a transparent case back, features a graduated dial and a pointer hand that allows for a more exact setting.” – Arnold & Son Website
Another timepiece from the HM Perpetual Moon collection is the Ref. 1GLAR.U01A.C123A. This watch is made to completely absorb your eyes: a translucent blue lacquered guilloché dial with a translucent blue guilloché moon disc with golden moon and stars.
This dial is using the same 3D gold hour indexes but for the minutes uses small gold cones. Together with the gold writing on the dial, it makes a spectacular contrast.
This blue version is the one I like most: the depth effect from the blue lacquer, the nice contrast of the gold elements on the guilloché waves – it reminds me of the Moon rise from the Ocean waves on a summer evening and gives me a quiet and peaceful feeling.
In the same collection, there is also a stainless steel version of this watch – Ref. 1GLAS.U02A.C122S. This timepiece has silvered dial element: the Moon, the 3D hour indexes and the minutes’ cones.
The stainless steel version has the same case diameter – 42 mm, the difference consisting of the case material and the silvered dial detail.
The steel watch has the same attention to details as the gold one with a highlight on the hand-engraved moon.
The steel case HM Perpetual Moon comes, for the ones with “darker” wishes, with a black dial – Ref. 1GLAS.B01A.C122S.
This version has a black guilloché dial with the same sun ray pattern, a black guilloché moon disc with silvered moon and steel 3D hour indexes with printed minutes’ markers.
The stainless steel watches use the same A&S1512 movement but with a silvered moon and no stars decoration for the black version.
The watches come with a hand-stitched brown or black alligator leather strap.
For me, this is one of the most beautiful moon-phase watches out there, it is always a pleasure to meet. You can watch below a short presentation video of the HM Perpetual Moon.
Please visit the Arnold and Son Website for more information about the Royale Collection, the current collection and the Arnold&Son history. You can see the watches and buy them from one of the Retailers. For those who want to check the market prices: Chrono24.
I would like to thank Arnold and Son for the images and information.