iW Magazine Fall 2019 | Page 34

Boutique IW RATING SYSTEM LEGEND 30-39: A great timepiece that may suffer from one or more weak points weighing down the overall score. 40-49: A superlative example of fine timekeeping. ARNOLD & SON Globetrotter Night Arnold & Son’s new Globetrotter Night displays a world of times while showing the wearer the Northern Hemisphere at night. Beneath one of the largest sapphire crystal domes we’ve seen on a watch, this newly nocturnal version of the original Arnold & Son Globetrotter, which debuted in 2018, performs all the same functions as that initial daytime model, but with a more muted, contemporary flair. The watch’s prominent, polished steel bridge supports a disk with a view of the northern hemisphere that rotates once every 24 hours and serves as the generalized world-time display while also acting as a night-day indicator. To indicate night, which is clearly a theme for the watch, the bezel-like sapphire disc around the globe is transparent between the daylight hours of 6.00 and 18.00, and translucent from 18.00 to 6.00, making daytime and nighttime easily evident. Determining world times with this half-globe will always be approximate without the specific city indications often associated with traditional world time watches. But as this is not a traditional world time watch. Its charms are primarily visual thanks to the Globetrotter Night’s realistic interpretation of a three- dimensional Northern Hemisphere map at night. Arnold & Son first engraves the continents chemically, followed by a galvanic deep-grey treatment to color them. Then the landmasses are hand-lacquered in a black-grey hue, while the oceans are lacquered in grey-blue. Finally, the city lights are represented by hand-applied silver sparkles. Beyond the half-globe, the watch’s chapter ring is circular satin-brushed while the hands are polished and tipped in red. That massive ‘double-foot’ bridge is circular satin-brushed and chamfered by hand and held in place by screws with polished heads and chamfered slots. 34 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | FALL 2019