The HM London Skyline brings together two anniversaries worth marking: 260 years of Arnold & Son, a name inseparable from the history of precision timekeeping, and the tenth anniversary of The Limited Edition. To celebrate both, the two companies turned to the city they share as a point of reference, and the result is a blue mother-of-pearl dial carrying a miniature portrait of London that does something genuinely unusual after the lights go out.
By day, the dial presents the London most people picture when they close their eyes: the Gothic spires of the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, the great dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, and Tower Bridge holding its position in the foreground, all laid against a shimmering pale blue surface. After dark, that familiar skyline fades back and a different city comes forward. Using a specially applied Super-LumiNova technique, the contemporary horizon glows into view: the London Eye to the right, the sharp edge of the Shard and the rounded form of the Gherkin to the left. Two versions of the same city, on one dial, visible only one at a time. The hour markers and slender lume-tipped hands sit quietly at the edges, leaving the artwork to do its work.
Beneath it all sits the A&S 1001 calibre, built entirely at Arnold & Son’s manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The movement is notably thin at 2.7mm, placing it squarely in extra-thin territory, while a double-barrel arrangement keeps it running for 90 hours on a full wind. Côtes de Genève, perlage, hand chamfering, and blued screws finish the architecture in the manner the movement deserves. The edition runs to 20 pieces in stainless steel or 18ct red gold, each engraved with its individual serial number and presented on a blue alligator leather strap.
