Arnold & Son’s original Globetrotter redefined what it means for a timepiece to be a world timer. Now, they’re redefining the iconic timepiece with the Arnold & Son Globetrotter Platinum by using platinum for the first time, adding noticeable heft to the already substantial wear.
Of course, the complication is already stunning even without the metal: the 45mm case commands attention while the domed sapphire crystal holds it. Just inside is a sculptured, three-dimensional view of Earth as seen from high above the North Pole, with the continents sculpted in 19-carat rhodium-plated gold. The oceans are a hand-painted blue lacquer with powdered mother-of-pearl.
It’s a stunning effect on its own, but the absolute showstopper on this watch only makes its debut once the lights go out, when Super-LumiNova details create an elegant, bioluminescent silhouette of the Northern Hemisphere’s coastlines. The view is about as close as most people will come to see the lights of civilization from up in the International Space station. It’s humbling stuff.
The strap features hand-stitched blue alligator skin with raspberry-pink lining and a titanium folding clasp. An exhibition caseback exposes the internal, self-winding A&S6022 world-timer movement powering the rotating Earth at the center of the 24-hour ring. Red arrows radiating from the center of the dial-spanning bridge indicate local time. The $70,200 Globetrotter sports a 45-hour power reserve – as if the owners of this ultra-limited run of 28 would ever take it off.
In other horological news, see the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Act 2: Tech Gombessa.
