With their head-turning hues and one-of-a-kind finish, precious stone dials are having a moment in the watchmaking world. Taking things to a whole new level is Arnold & Son, who has skipped the usual malachite/lapis lazuli/onyx and co. phase in favor of something even rarer: Baltic amber.
Limited to just 38 pieces, the new HM Steel Amber is crafted using fossilized resin dating back over 30 million years. A seldom-used material in watchmaking given its fragility, each dial is meticulously hand-selected from a 1.6-kilogram amber block with only the highest-quality used.
Each completely individual in patterning, each piece gains unique color which changes on contact with air and light, perfectly complementing the imperial green alligator leather strap for a striking, vintage-esque look.
Encasing the dial is an ultra-thin 39.5mm stainless steel case, measuring only 7.82mm in depth.
Domed sapphire crystal with double-sided anti-reflective coating enhances legibility while a sapphire crystal case back offers a view of the movement’s detailed finishing.
At the heart of the HM Steel Amber is the A&S1001 caliber, a manually wound mechanical movement developed entirely in-house at Arnold & Son’s La Chaux-de-Fonds manufacture.
Operating at a frequency of 3 Hz (21,600 vph), it delivers an impressive 90-hour power reserve, and features a rhodium-plated and circular-grained mainplate, chamfered bridges with radiating Côtes de Genève stripes, and blued, polished screws.
CHF 19,500, arnoldandson.com