Arnold & Son DSTB

Arnold & Son DSTB is a line in which the true beat (deadbeat) seconds mechanism has been moved from the movement side to the dial — hence the name, Dial Side True Beat. Arnold & Son is a manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds named after the British chronometer maker John Arnold and his son, and the DSTB refers back to Arnold's 18th-century marine chronometers.

The mechanism works in full view under the sapphire crystal: steel bridges, an escape wheel and a seconds lever shaped like a ship's anchor. The large seconds scale dominates the dial. Hours and minutes are shown on an off-centre subdial — on the reference described here it sits at 4 o'clock, made of white enamel with Roman numerals. The movement is the automatic calibre A&S6003, developed and produced by Arnold & Son. Through the sapphire caseback you can see the winding rotor decorated with Côtes de Genève.

A representative model is the Instrument Collection DSTB 1ATAW.L04A.C121W: a white gold case, blue dial and black leather strap. As the name suggests, DSTB belongs to the Instrument Collection. Within the line, watches are chosen by case metal and dial colour, and for pre-owned pieces also by condition and box and papers. Besides white gold, the DSTB has been produced in other metals, such as red gold.