Why don't we talk more about ...... Arnold & Son?
In 1755 John Arnold left England for the Netherlands at the age of 19 after completing his apprenticeship to hone his watchmaking skills. He returned two years later speaking excellent German, which stood him in good stead later at the court of King George III and had established himself as a watchmaker of repute in London’s Strand by his mid-twenties. John set up in his watch business in Devereux Court, London’s Strand. In 1764 John Arnold gained an introduction to King George III by presenting him with a ring containing a half-quarter repeater.
The earliest marine chronometers Arnold completed for official trial were from the series he made in the early 1770's. Arnold presented to the Board of Longitude a timekeeper that estimated could be produced for just 60 guineas and was granted £ 200 by the Board, the first of several sums for his support. Admiral Sir Robert Harland was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station in 1771, he took the first Arnold’s chronometer on his journey to Madagascar.
Following his invention of a detent escapement and other significant design improvements, John Arnold builds his first pocket chronometer (No. 8) in 1773. John Arnold knew that the less contact there was between the balance and the escapement, the more likely the chronometer would be to keep accurate. This led him to develop a pivoted detent escapement and three years later he was granted a patent for a compensation bimetallic balance and a helical balance spring.
The most famous of all Arnold’s timekeepers is probably his pocket watch No. 1/36. The watch, sent to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1779 for trial was applauded for its precision. One major invention of Arnold’s was his conception of "terminal curves" for the helical balance spring. He patented the design in May 1782 (British patent No. 1382) along with a spring detent escapement and epicycloid teeth.
John Arnold officially retired, transferring the company to his son, John Roger Arnold (1769-1843) who was an accomplished watchmaker. In 1792, two years after his apprenticeship at his father's facility, he was sent to Paris to study with great French watchmaker Abraham Louis Breguet, friend of John Arnold.
In 1821 John Roger Arnold was granted a patent for his 'U'-shaped balance. He also became a predominant supplier to the Admiralty. Of the 129 chronometers belonging to the Royal Navy, no fewer than 84 are signed by him, his father John Arnold or Arnold & Son. After the death of John Roger Arnold, Arnold & Son is continued by Charles Frodsham, renown English watchmaker, until mid of the 19th century. After a relaunch in 1995, Arnold & Son became a fully integrated Swiss manufacturer, developing and producing in-house all of its movements, perpetuating the legacy of John Arnold
My name is Rich and I am building a collection of unique complications. I know it sounds more like the way you start a watch museum and not a personal collection. So far I have a Tourbillion, Retrogra...
I think with any brand if you have zero retail presence you are not gonna attract many buyers especially with high end watches.
This is their office in LA. No way I'm getting in that building go to the third floor just to window shop.
My guess those watches are very exclusive to high end buyer
For most people, a company that sort of stopped existing for a century and a half seems a little suspicious. Or perhaps the word is inauthentic, as how exactly is there even the most tenuous connection between the original company and the one revived many generations later? Dare I say stolen valor?
But the reason they get minimal publicity is probably because they don't have a glad-handing publicist (or a small army of them) to wine and dine and bribe the watch media industry.
Nice write up! I really like the look of their Luna Magna line, but I think they fly under the radar because they're prohibitively expensive for most, and buyers in that price range go for AP, Patek, or Rolex just so they can wear the brand. A lot of reviewers get their watches from viewers, so if they're too expensive for viewers they rarely find their way to YT. In the same vein as brands like Laurent Ferrier, Trilobe, Jaquet Droz, etc, my only exposure to them is either in a print magazine my dad lends to me, or in plastic film at a dealer. Never see on WRUW or other outlets.