Arnold & Son’s “Year of the Tiger” Perpetual Moon Commemorates the Chinese New Year
Ferocity meets luxury in the latest annual edition
Written by Theo Baker
MarCh 2, 2022
The Chinese New Year began on February 1 of this year, and as in previous years, a growing number of luxury-minded watchmakers are developing new and interesting timepieces to commemorate the new year upon us. One such brand is the Swiss luxury watchmaker Arnold & Son, which is marking the turning of the Chinese Zodiac calendar with some serious style with the debut of their latest timepiece: the new “Year of the Tiger” Perpetual Moon.
The ferocious novelty, which is also known as the “Gold Water Tiger,” follows in the footsteps of the brand’s previous Chinese New Year commemorative timepiece that came last year, the “Year of the Ox” Perpetual Moon. Like the “Ox,” the new “Year of the Tiger” uses Arnold & Son’s established Perpetual Moon design as its base canvas, applying to it an intricate, Tiger-adorned dial. Its compositions feature a luxurious variety of materials— such as rose gold, specular hematite, mother-of-pearl, and aventurine—produced using a range of artistic techniques including collage, hand-painting, and engraving.
Making effective use of color, textures, materials, and techniques, the “Tiger” dial showcases a scene displaying its namesake creature. Here, a hand-engraved gold tiger prowls and roars, demonstrating its ferocity. In parallel towards the left side of the watch, a bamboo-decorated waterfall flows, conversely representing the tiger’s ability for a tempered coolness. Then, opposite to both the waterfall and tiger is the watch’s namesake moonphase, with the large view of the complication showcasing its mother-of-pearl construction, hand-painted shadows, and creative use of Super-Luminova paint which pairs with a constellation and other details on the dial for an attractive nighttime scene. A pair of signature syringe-tipped hands pass over the entire scene and indicate the passing hours and minutes via small, applied indices along the display’s edge.
While the dial of the Gold Water Tiger is its obvious draw, the watch from its outside inward is a showcase of Arnold & Son’s refinement and attention to detail. Speaking to its case, the watch features a 42mm by 12.16mm sizing, with its 18k rose gold silhouette following previous editions of the Perpetual Moon. In this regard, the “Year of the Tiger” case is complete with a relatively thin bezel to maximize the dial’s expansive appearance, as well as the use of a flattened, onion style crown lending to its 30m water resistance. Finally, the timepiece is finished using an extremely fine polishing throughout.
Like the case and dial, the movement inside the new Perpetual Moon follows in the same vein of extreme refinement and attention to detail. The movement is called the Arnold & Son caliber A&S1512, with the hand-wound, in-house developed mechanism featuring a long-lasting 90-hour power reserve visible with its lavish finishing—inclusive of rhodium-plating, côtes de Genève stripes, circular brushing, polished and chamfered bridges, and blued screws— via a sapphire exhibition caseback.
The new Arnold & Son “Year of the Tiger” Perpetual Moon is available now via Arnold & Son boutiques and select authorized boutiques, and like the “Ox” before it is highly limited to only eight total editions. Pricing is marked at CHF 52,900, or about $57,025 at the time of writing.
