Arnold & Son has updated the dials on two new steel-cased editions of its Globetrotter, the watchmaker’s distinctive world time watch.
The new Globetrotter Steel, with its sculpted half globe displaying the northern hemisphere framed in a sapphire crystal ring, offers the spare, more contemporary dial unveiled earlier this year on the red gold Globetrotter. But instead of that model’s gold markers, this new edition offers Roman numerals to indicate hours.
The Arnold & Son Globetrotter Steel, showing the limited edition blue dial model.
That arched steel bridge spanning the globe does more that catch the eye. It holds a functional ruby atop the domed dial. Reading world times starts at the ruby, where the eye imagines the start of a longitude line that extends to the 24-hour sapphire ring that surrounds the dial. The wearer identifies local time simply by reading the red hands.
At the center of the 45mm Globetrotter Steel, the hemisphere sculpture features rhodium-plated and polished continents with matte-polished mountain ranges. These are surrounded by hand-painted oceans with layers of blue lacquer pigments enriched with mother-of-pearl powder. (Arnold & Son notes that it also offer a southern hemisphere edition of the Globetrotter Steel and can also customize the world map for special orders.)
Arnold & Son is offering a choice of two dials for the newest Globetrotter Steel. One new version displays the northern hemisphere surrounded by a brilliant lacquered blue with sunburst decoration, in a series of eighty-eight pieces. The other features a silvery white lacquered dial and with sunburst decoration. The latter model is not a limited edition.
Arnold & Son equips the Globetrotter Steel with the in-house automatic caliber A&S6022.
Prices: CHF 18,900 (blue dial) and CHF17,900 (silvery white dial).
Ulysse Nardin focuses on its rich history as a premier manufacturer of marine chronometers as it debuts seven new models within its Marine Torpilleur chronometer collection.
All of the debuts feature in-house calibers with silicon balance spring, and most also feature the brand’s Diamonsil (a silicon and diamond mix) escapement wheel and anchor. Among the offerings are two new movements, and all seven models are offered as numbered and limited editions.
Ulysse Nardin chronometers, new and old.
To signify the LeLocle watchmaker’s 175th anniversary, each model will feature “Chronometry since 1846” printed at 6 o’clock on the small seconds counter.
Marine Torpilleur Panda
For Panda dial enthusiasts Ulysse Nardin adds this variation of its Marine Torpilleur sporting two small dark blue dials. One at the top of the dial displays the power reserve indicator and the other shows the second hand and date. ) The watch is Ulysse Nardin’s first panda-style display.
The new Ulysse Nardin Marine Torpilleur Panda.
So-called ‘panda’ displays, which feature solid-colored subdials placed amid a light-colored primary dial, were given their moniker decades ago when early dials with the design were said to recall the face of a panda bear.
Inside Ulysse Nardin fits its own UN-118 movement, a solid caliber made even more precise and efficient with silicon and Diamonsil components. Limited to 300 pieces, the 42mm diameter steel-cased Marine Torpilleur Panda comes with a choice of either a brown or blue leather alligator strap, metal bracelet, a rubber strap or a R-Strap. Price: $8,200.
The new Marine Torpilleur Annual Chronograph.
Marine Torpilleur Annual Chronograph
With a dial design inspired by Ulysse Nardin pocket watch chronometers produced from 1936 to 1980, this eye-catching two-register 44mm steel chronograph also features a second useful function: annual calendar.
Ulysse Nardin is widely known for its mastery of the annual calendar, a function Ludwig Oechslin brought to the brand’s wristwatches within his perpetual calendar from 1996. With all settings adjustable both forward and backward by using the crown, the Ulysse Nardin annual calendar offered easy time-setting capability. This feature, initially found on very few wristwatches, remains a strong selling point throughout Ulysse Nardin’s collections.
Up close on the dial of the Marine Torpilleur Annual Chronograph.
The newest inclusion of that function in this Torpilleur Annual Chronograph finds the date at 6 o’clock with months indicated at 9 o’clock. Powered by the UN-153, an evolution of the earlier UN-150 movement, the debut offers a varnished white or a matte blue dial. Three hundred pieces will be made. Price: $12,100.
The Ulysse Nardin Marine Torpilleur Moonphase with a Grand Complication Pocket Watch from 1920.
The Marine Torpilleur Moonphase
As critical to sailors as a precise chronometer, a moonphase indicator can be found on late 19th century Ulysse Nardin timepieces. When used together with a sextant, the lunar indication allowed sailors to devise more detailed navigation. In more recent years, the watchmaker has launched numerous high-profile astronomic-centered watches, notably the Ludwig Oechslin-devised Trilogy of Time series in the 1990s.
While the new Marine Torpilleur Moonphase is hardly as complex as any of those specialty items, the moonphase display reminds collectors of this brand’s deep history of creating astronomical displays, which likely spurred the inclusion of a moonphase model within this 175th anniversary collection. When adding the moonphase function to this watch, Ulysse Nardin creates UN-119, a variation of its UN-118 movement.
This new 42mm steel-cased watch comes with either a blue or white dial and will be offered as a limited edition of 300. Price: $9,900.
Ulysse Nardin chronometers, like this one from 1919, could be found on U.S. Navy ships.Ulysse Nardin sold deck chronometers until 1980.
Two additional debuts
We’ll feature the remaining two models in the new Ulysse Nardin Marine Torpilleur collection in an upcoming post.
The two models each feature an enamel dial. One is a stunning blue-enamel-dial edition of the power reserve model with the panda dial (noted above) and the Marine Torpilleur Tourbillon Grand Feu. The latter, a rose-gold watch with a black enamel dial, is powered by caliber UN-128 Constant Manufacture with a flying tourbillon that features the technically advanced and patented Ulysse Nardin Escapement.
The organization, one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world, will conduct testing protocols that exceed the international standards outlined in ISO 3159. Testers will only utilize visual testing procedures, which typically result in more reliable results than the sound-based testing found on traditional watch timing machines, according to HSNY.
An example of the Chronometer Certificate from HSNY.
All watch tests will be conducted referencing a range of temperatures and positions over a fifteen-day period. If a watch passes the tests, HSNY will issue a physical HSNY Certified Chronometer certificate with specific test results. For more details about the testing protocol, see chronometer.org.
“Independent chronometer testing and certification is a valuable service for both watchmakers and watch collectors,” said Nicholas Manousos, executive director of HSNY. “With a certificate from HSNY, watchmakers can advertise their chronometers with confidence, and watch collectors can be assured that their watch is indeed a chronometer. I look forward to welcoming many brands from around the world to test their watches in New York.”
The Massena LAB Erwin LAB03.
HSNY reports that Massena LAB, a New York-based company founded by watch expert William Massena, is the first brand to offer a HSNY Certified Chronometer for sale. That watch, the Habring2 x Massena LAB ERWIN LAB03, features a movement from Habring2 with a dial designed by Massena and created by dialmaker and watchmaker Joshua N. Shapiro.
The Massena Lab ERWIN LAB03 movement is stamped with the HSNY Seal.
“HSNY plays a pivotal role in expanding and educating the public on the artistry and craftsmanship that is fine watchmaking,” says Massena. “This new program continues the organization’s mission of providing best-in-class resources for both watchmakers and watch collectors alike.”
HSNY’s Chronometer Certification Program is available to watchmakers and watch manufacturers worldwide, and only new, cased-up mechanical watches with a spring balance oscillator are eligible for testing. These watchmakers and watch brands may then use the HSNY Certified Chronometer certification in their marketing programs. HSNY says it will not guarantee that any watch submitted will pass the testing requirements.
Jaeger-LeCoultre recently added an exceptional Japanese-sourced miniature enamel painting to the caseback of a white gold Reverso, expanding the watchmaker’s artisanal and eclectic Reverso Tribute collection.
On the back of the new Reverso Tribute Enamel Hokusai Kirifuri Waterfall, a limited edition of ten pieces, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Rare Handcrafts artisans have reproduced a woodblock print of the Kirifuri Waterfall made by Katsushika Hokusai in the early 1830s.
The impressive back of the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel Hokusai Kirifuri Waterfall.
To transfer the image, the artisans first needed to perfectly scale the image from its original woodblock size to fit the Reverso’s caseback. This required reproducing the image to a size one-tenth of the original. And if you look at the image, you’ll see that part of that challenge meant also miniaturizing a group of small human figures pictured at the base of the waterfall.
After more than seventy hours of work (per piece), the enamel artisans met that challenge.
On the Reverso’s flipside, artisans decorated the dial with a wavy guilloché pattern that nicely echoes the effect of moving water. Jaeger-LeCoultre reports that this was done by hand using a century-old lathe with a specially tooled cam. The artisan amplified the wavy effects with layers of translucent grand feu enamel in a soft shade of green that perfectly matches the painting on the reverse side.
The watchmaker adds that it takes five working hours to perfect the guilloché, followed by eight working hours for the layers of translucent green enamel.
The resulting rich green dial, paired with pristine enamel Kirifuri Waterfall painting on the caseback, combine to create yet another visual treat from Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Almost hidden beneath all this beauty is decades of Reverso dual-side case design and the robust manually wound Caliber 822, which powers a simple two-hand dial. All told, a stunning package.
Swiss watchmaker Norqain expands its sporty Adventure collection with Neverest, three steel-cased 40mm watches equipped with the brand’s own COSC-certified automatic movement. Sales from all three models will benefit the Butterfly Help Project, which helps families of sherpas who have lost their lives in the Himalayan mountains and gives their children access to education.
The Norqain Glacier
The Glacier
The first debut, called Adventure Neverest 40mm Glacier, features a silvered dial with a brushed steel case and a grey bezel and dial.
The Glacier’s greys are punctuated with a few red accents on the central seconds hand and the Chronometer inscription. The dial pattern here is meant to resemble “the jagged crevasses of Khumbu Icefall, the most dangerous stage of the climb to Everest’s summit,” according to Norqain.
Norqain is quick to note that it has coated all the watch’s markers and hands with a supercharged version of SuperLuminova said to be 60% stronger than the standard stuff. And appropriate to the watch’s sporty profile, Norqain has also nicely knurled the bezel’s edges to make rotating the unidirectional bezel a simpler chore.
Look for the Glacier on a steel bracelet ($3,250), a textured rubber strap ($3,050) or a flexible fabric strap (also $3,050).
The Norqain Adventure Neverest 40mm Limited Edition.
The Bi-Color
The remaining two debuts sport Norqain’s own block-link pattern dial with different color schemes and framed by a choice of a steel case or a steel case with red gold bezel.
The latter model, with a slightly dressier steel and gold combination, is limited to 100 pieces, which Norqain has engraved on the watch’s caseback. The watch’s red gold bezel is topped with a black ceramic ring. Options here include a textured black rubber strap with the same knurled style as the bezel ($4,380), a steel bracelet with an additional security clasp ($4,580), or a flexible fabric strap ($4,380).
The Norqain Adventure Neverest 40mm.
Finally Norqain offers a sportier version of the watch with an outdoor-themed forest green and black patterned dial.
The watch’s steel bezel also offers a black ceramic ring. Like its limited edition counterpart, this model is available with a stainless steel bracelet ($3,190), a black rubber strap ($2,990) or a flexible fabric strap ($2,990).
Inside all three Neverest watches Norqain places its superb Manufacture Calibre NN20/1.
Given this brand’s pedigree, with executive links to both Breitling and Tudor, we’d expect a focus on serious caliber technology, and that’s what Norqain delivered in February 2020 when it launched Calibers NN20/1 and NN20/2. Both calibers are being produced in partnership with Kenissi, a mechanical movement manufacturer founded by Tudor.
Inside all three Neverest watches Norqain places its Manufacture Caliber NN20/1.
The movements are extra shock resistant, COSC-certified and offer a power reserve of seventy hours. All three Neverest models are water resistant to 200 meters.
The watch’s steel bezel also offers a black ceramic ring. Like its limited edition counterpart, this model is available with a stainless steel bracelet ($3,190), a black rubber strap ($2,990) or a flexible fabric strap ($2,990).
