There have been many famous British watchmakers through history and their influence can still be felt in the industry today. One such watchmaker is John Arnold, the name behind the haute horology brand Arnold & Son. These days Arnold & Son operate as a Swiss brand producing incredible works of fine horology such as the Year of the Dragon Luna Magna. However, as of today they are stepping into the integrated sports watch game with the launch of the Arnold & Son Longitude Titanium.
Off the bat, seeing an Arnold & Son integrated sports watch feels pretty weird. I’m so used to seeing precious metal dress watches, high complications and skeletonised timepieces that a 42.5mm titanium watch stands out like a sore thumb. Although it isn’t itself a sore thumb because I actually quite like the design. It has round, curving sides that are then angled across the horizontal axis between the bezel and lugs to give the piece a quasi-cushion case appearance. It’s then finished with vertical brushing.
It sits comfortably within the archetype of integrated sports watches without being a direct homage to iconic watches like the Nautilus or Royal Oak. The completely round bezel with pronounced grip plays a large role in keeping the watch distinct from its cohort, the majority of which are obsessed with polygon bezels of varying numbers of sides. Although one aspect the Longitude Titanium does share with many other integrated watches is the H-link bracelet, a very popular design.
Moving to the dial, it’s very restrained by Arnold & Son standards. Wide bar indexes, partially skeletonised hands coated with lume, a snailed small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock and a minimalist power reserve indicator at 12. There are three colours to choose from starting with Ocean Blue, then Fern Green featuring rose gold coloured accents and lastly the limited edition Kingsand Gold with blue accents. Of the trio, I think the Fern Green is my personal favourite because there’s a gentleness to the colour that’s very soothing to look at.
Beneath the dial is housed a new movement, the A&S6302 automatic movement with COSC chronometer certification and a 60-hour power reserve. The chronometer certification is actually very important to the watch’s identity because while the Longitude Titanium is a new type of watch from Arnold & Son, it’s not the first watch they’ve produced with the name Longitude. That’s because John Arnold was famous for producing marine chronometers that won awards from the Bureau des Longitudes and so chronometer status and the name Longitude have gone hand in hand since the 18th century.
Earlier in this article I was discussing the watch’s similarities and differences to other luxury integrated sports watches. Well, you can add ‘price’ to the list of similarities. The 88-piece limited edition Kingsand Gold is CHF 22,600 and the two non-limited versions are CHF 21,500 (approx. £19,820/£18,850). No one expected an Arnold & Son integrated sports watch and the results are pleasantly surprising.
Price and Specs:
More details at Arnold & Son.
