Arnold & Son: a different approach to horlogerie

“Day & Night” magazine catches up with François Picci, Vice-President of Sales at Arnold & Son, who explains how the more-than-250-year-old brand manages to stay relevant and current with its strategy of being different. He also sheds light on the marque’s latest horological masterpiece – the Globetrotter…

Can you tell us about what is the highlight for Arnold & Son at Baselworld 2018?

Our highlight this year is the Globetrotter – a new world timer that shows the Northern Hemisphere of the earth from the North Pole, with an hour and a minute hand that shows the local time. The watch is equipped with an automatic movement, enjoys a 45-hour power reserve, and is very well-finished. The earth is made of brass, and it is then lacquered by hand so that you can see the gradations of colour going from very light to dark – a beautiful representation of the globe.

Compared to your other offerings, the Globetrotter is a very aesthetically driven watch; any comments?

Correct, every time we bring out a new model, we try to do something aesthetically appealing. We always produce the movement after we design the watch; so we actually make the movement for the model we design. In this way, we are not blocked by the function of a movement but really design the watch the way we want to, and we like to be different from what you find in the market. The Globetrotter is a typically good example of the way we create watches; you will not find a similar watch in the market. It is actually addressed to watch lovers who want something different.

Why is that Arnold & Son has seen fit to unveil a new watch for the first time in a steel version rather than a gold edition?

This is in fact the second time; we did something similar with the Eight-Day Royal Navy watch. We started the collection with 3 different dials, and this year we are releasing a prototype in a gold case that we are now showing to the market. But it is true – not only for us but the watch industry on the whole – that first the high-end, meaning gold version, is launched and only then the steel edition is unveiled, or sometimes both together. As part of our strategy at being different, we decided to go with an attractive price, show a new model, and allow more people to buy it straightaway from the first year.

How did you manage to place it at such an aggressive price point?

Yes, it is a very aggressive price point as is the case with some of our other models such as the Tourbillon Chronometer No.36 Tribute Edition. We have been working very hard these past two-three years; globally, the economic situation has become more difficult and a lot of countries are struggling. A number of brands have tried to reduce their production costs; we have also tried to do this so as to be able to offer our watches to more people. We are a Manufacture where we make all of our components, rather than just assembling our movements into cases with dials – we produce every component of our movements. This means that we have all the tools to produce all components, which enables us to be more active in managing our production costs. This is the way we have been working to present attractive models at aggressive price points.