In 12 o’clock is a day/night index for the GMT time and time, using matching skeletonized and stuffed palms to tell them apart. The bottom half of the indicator is striped, which aids the visual representation of this “nighttime” part of the disc. I do want the Arnold & Son emblem had been located elsewhere though, as its position interrupting the seconds monitor at 12 o’clock can make precise time-setting difficult. Another niggling difficulty I found was that the next hand counterweight closely emulates the look of the home time palms, which may sometimes cause a moment of confusion when you glance down and watch three palms pointing towards the dial. In an ideal world, I’d have loved to see that the moment hands on each dial stretched just a bit further to properly reach the minute trail, and the hour hands shortened a bit to not overlap the hour mark, but that is a little aesthetic qualm that doesn’t affect utility.On the reverse side of this Arnold & Son DBG Skeleton, the bottom plate of the manufacture bore A&S1309 is revealed. The movement is made of nickel silver (also called German silver or Maillechort, an alloy of aluminum, nickel and zinc) which was rhodium-plated and embellished using C?tes de Genève. The wheels are satin-finished and provide a contrasting three dimensional texture to the bottom plate, and involving the chamfered edges of the bridges, the golden gear train could be seen. The motion is hand wound obviously, which contributes to its thinness in a mere 3.9mm. It includes 42 jewels and offers a 40 hour power reserve while the double accounts oscillate at 21,600vph, or 3Hz. That is definitely a highly elegant movement, but in contrast to the thickness of detail given by this skeletonized dial, the opposite side of this movement almost feels like a letdown.
Despite looking like yet another pedestrian flying tourbillon, the Arnold & Son UTTE (short for “ultra-thin tourbillon escapement”) is noteworthy. Its case stands 8.34 mm high, and the movement inside, the cal. A&S8200 developed by its sister company La Joux-Perret, is only 2.97 mm. That is no mean feat, considering the movement manages an 80 hour power reserve with twin barrels, just over three days. And even more so given the large 14 mm tourbillon cage.
The 2.97 mm high movement does not include the tourbillon cage, which is slightly convex. According to Arnold & Son, the decision to raise the cage was an aesthetic one, to give a better view of the tourbillon regulator. This adds depth and detail to an elegant, but plain, dial.
Turn the watch over and the movement is revealed. It is attractively decorated with a three-quarter plate in German silver, but because the plate is rhodium-plated, does not have the characteristic hue of maillechort.
The tourbillon bridge, on the other hand, is hand-engraved. This adds a welcome decorative touch. Though the movement is well finished and good looking, it is not striking.
Two versions are available, rose gold or palladium, with each limited to 50 pieces. Price-wise the UTTE is reasonable: the rose gold retails for SFr68,420 (~US$75,300) while the palladium is SFr59,400 (~US$65,300). For an entry level tourbillon the UTTE delivers a more novel proposition than the vast majority of its competitors in the segment. – SJX
