Introducing the New Arnold & Son Double Tourbillon with a Baltic Amber Dial

A double tourbillon has two separate tourbillon mechanisms working together. Each tourbillon operates independently, each with its own escapement and balance wheel. They may be connected through a differential gear that averages their rates, further improving accuracy. By having two tourbillons working together, the positional errors are averaged out more effectively, leading to better accuracy. Double tourbillons are visually captivating, and showcase watchmaking prowess and complexity. Arnold & Son has just come up with an impressive double-tourbillon watch. The new Double Tourbillon variant with a Baltic amber dial (Ref. 1DTAW.Z07A.C291W) is indeed a one-off piece.

But, first, what exactly is baltic amber? It is a type of fossilised tree resin that dates back to the Eocene epoch, roughly 44 million years ago. It is primarily found in the region around the Baltic Sea, including parts of modern-day Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Russia. Essentially, it originates from the resin of ancient coniferous trees. Over millions of years, this resin fossilised to become amber. This can range in colour from pale yellow to deep orange or brown. It is often transparent or translucent and may contain insects, plant material or air bubbles; it is primarily composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and contains a high percentage of succinic acid (about 3-8%).

The Double Tourbillon is, in essence, two watches rolled into one. Like so many models of Arnold & Son, the dial of this 43.5 mm white gold watch gets two white opaline dials at 12 o’clock, with Roman numerals to display the local time; another dial at 6 o’clock displays time in another time zone with Arabic numerals. Both dials have blue arrow tipped hands, and feature two crowns at 2 o’clock and 7 o’clock to adjust the independent time zone dials and wind the movements. The Arnold & Son's Double Tourbillon differs from typical GMT watches in that the hour and minute hands may be adjusted independently on both dials, allowing for correct handling of time zones with odd offsets (15, 30, and 45 minutes). 

The new model features two large cutout areas at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock to accommodate the double tourbillons. Bisecting the vertical symmetry of the dials, the twin tourbillons are attached to a three-dimensional, skeletonised, cantilevered white gold bridge. They are also at the end of a double gear train. The tourbillon bridges are exquisitely finished with satin-brushed and mirror-polished surfaces. 

Arnold & Son’s manual-winding double tourbillon movement gets Côtes de Genève stripes on the bridges, a circular-grained mainplate, circular graining on the crown wheels, and polished gold chatons. Powering the timepiece is Calibre A&S8513, a manual-winding movement with a 90-hour power reserve. Turning the watch over showcases the sapphire caseback to view the movement with the engraving of “Piece Unique”. Finishing the watch is a jungle-green alligator leather strap with papaya-yellow alligator leather lining and an 18 ct white gold buckle.