Arnold & Son presents its first three-dimensional moon made of marble and aventurine.

In a starry sky, a large moon alternates between light and dark as it moves through its phases. Showcased on an aventurine glass dial, the moon changes majestically and with astronomical precision. It is the largest moon ever built into a wristwatch, and a creation that benefits from the first-class watchmaking and decorative techniques of the Arnold & Son Manufacture.

Luna Magna features Arnold & Son’s first three-dimensional moon. With this original timepiece, the Swiss watchmaker with English roots aims to make a lasting impression by presenting the largest moon ever created in relief for a wristwatch. Beneath an off-centred dial at 12 o’clock, which constitutes one of the house’s aesthetic signatures, Arnold & Son has placed a rotating sphere that accurately represents the appearance of the quarters of the moon against a starry backdrop that is more dazzling than a midsummer night sky.

Revelation

Presented in a 44 mm red-gold case, Arnold & Son has recreated one of its distinctive designs. The off-centred hours and minutes dial at 12 o’clock frees up substantial space for displaying complications, such as this spherical moon measuring 12 mm in diameter. Its size is not its only distinctive feature. Half of the moon is made of marble to represent the illuminated part of the Earth’s satellite, while the other half is made of aventurine glass to depict the darker side. Neither material has ever been used in a three-dimensional design such as this. Changing from dazzling white to a deep, starry blue, the Luna Magna’s quarters have been delicately depicted to replicate the appearance of the lunar disc.

Concealment

The large moon emerges from the main plate of the A&S1021 calibre without upsetting the overall balance of the timepiece. Arnold & Son has drawn on its remarkable creativity to make Luna Magna a well-proportioned watch that showcases the incredible volume of its moon.

The lunar globe thus appears halfway up the movement, perfectly positioned between the top and bottom. The upper part is encased in a glass box. This technique has been repeated on the case-back side, where the sapphire crystal rests on the wrist.

By placing most of the volume in these sapphire crystals, the Luna Magna’s case has a total height of 15.9 mm. Lastly, to bring the overall piece together, the deeply tapered lugs extend the curvature of the sapphire crystal to meet the natural curve of the wrist.

Elevation

Arnold & Son has an ancient, long-standing relationship with the phases of the moon. Guided by the life of John Arnold and the mark he made in the Royal Navy during the 18th century, the house has frequently endeavoured to depict the age of this satellite as accurately and as beautifully as possible. By completely reinventing the way the Earth’s satellite is depicted, Luna Magna elevates itself by pushing the boundaries of this astronomical and poetic watchmaking exercise.

Accuracy

Luna Magna is driven by the A&S1021 calibre, which has been fully developed, manufactured, assembled and adjusted in the Manufacture. This new hand-wound calibre, which has been designed with the lunar globe in mind, features a 90-hour power reserve and a regulating organ oscillating at a frequency of 3 Hz. The movement also includes a secondary display detailing the age of the moon on the case-back side. Its clearly readable markings are designed for high-precision adjustments.

The sophisticated celestial mechanics are also based on precise astronomical reality. In fact, the duration of a complete lunar cycle is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds. Arnold & Son has managed to replicate it in such a way that it will take 122 years for the movement’s display to deviate from the correct celestial reading by one day. The correction required at this time will be easy to dispense, as the Luna Magna’s moon-phase function can be accessed directly by the crown. This practical feature has been made possible by Arnold & Son’s total mastery of the watchmaking process.

Arnold & Son
www.arnoldandson.com

Named after John Arnold, English watchmaker of the 18th century renowned for his ingenuity and work on marine chronometers, Arnold & Son perpetuates today his legacy, exploring contemporary ways to interpret traditional watch craftsmanship. From its Manufacture based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, cradle of the Swiss watchmaking industry, Arnold & Son develops its timepieces in-house including its complicated calibers.

The House established iconic collections such as the Time Pyramid with its unique architecture, the Nebula featuring a fully skeletonized movement, the Perpetual Moon and the Luna Magna displaying among the most spectacular moon phases on the market or the Globetrotter, impressive three-dimensional worldtimer. The twenty plus calibers presented to date by Arnold & Son have all been conceived, designed, developed, machined, decorated, assembled, and adjusted by its sister Manufacture, La Joux-Perret. This independence and creativity demonstrate the House’s ability to perpetuate John Arnold’s exceptional inventions.

All images courtesy of Arnold & Son.

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