Space as a theme that unites East and West.
The Perpetual Moon 41.5 Red Gold "Year of the Snake" by Arnold & Son masterfully merges eastern and western traditions in a place where they definitely meet: space.
The Moon and constellations are key elements on the special version of the Perpetual Moon model dedicated to the new Chinese zodiac Year of the Snake. In the traditional Chinese calendar, the Moon determines the date that traditional festivals fall on, and the beginning of the new year coincides with the new moon.
The Moon also helped western seafarers to navigate — the sailors who John Arnold created his chronometers for. The Ursa Major (the Big Dipper) and Cassiopeia constellations chosen to decorate the dial were essential for sailors to navigate.
Between these two constellations is where you can find Polaris, i.e. the North Star, which is more accurate than a compass in determining the true north. On this watch, the Moon looms large in the dark: the white mother-of-pearl disk with reproduced craters shaded on top glows thanks to its Super-LumiNova overlay.
The constellations also shine in the dark, along with an ancient pagoda and the branches of a Ginkgo biloba tree (one of the oldest living tree species in the world, protected at the national level in China). The Moon on the dial is more than an ode to nature at Arnold & Son, it demonstrates the watchmaker's technical mastery.
A secondary moon-phase display can be found on the caseback to quickly and accurately adjust the complication. The A&S1512 movement used in the manually wound watch with a 90-hour power reserve takes the true length of a lunar month into account (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds).
The watchmaker says that if the movement is constantly wound up, it would take 122 years for it to accumulate a 24-hour discrepancy between the display and astronomical reality. In addition to the beauty of the dial's night lights on the aventurine starry sky, the main star of the lunar new year has been given due attention.
A snake winds around the branches of the Ginkgo biloba tree. The animal sign and symbol for the new year is made of gold with hand-engraved scaly skin. The watch case measuring 41.5 mm × 11.67 mm is made of red gold.