History
The British Masters SA is a private Anglo-Swiss owned firm founded in 1995 by Swiss watchmaking engineer Eric Loth in the Neuchatel canton, Switzerland’ s watchmaking heart.
The British Masters continue to write the history of two legendary watchmaking names: Graham and Arnold & Son.
John Arnold (1736-1799)
Born in Cornwal, son of a clock-maker.
1764: workshop set up in the Strand, London
Minute repeater-ring gift to King George III, gains access to circles of wealthy people. Joins the Longitude Act compeetition: find a reliable method for calculating longitude at sea to stop, heavy maritime losses and accelerate the expansion of Britain’s empire.
Specializes
Marine Chronometers 1770’s:
stricter rules decreed for watchmaker-longitude method proposals: 2 identical prototypes and tests both at sea and on land Arnold’s vision, entrepreneurial skills and technical genius gives him the edge over competitors, co-wins the Longitude Prize Son John Roger joins the firm, studies for a year with his father’s friend in Paris: A.L. Breguet.
Invents a revolutionary production process
Invents a revolutionary production process
Inventor of detent escapement and substancial movement simplification
Maker of the first ever pocket chronometer (N°36)
Arnold & Son becomes by far the leading supplier to the Royal Navy.
Arnold chronometers accompany numerous famous British explorers: Cook, Phipps, Vancouver, Flinders, Dr.Livingstone, John Franklin, Sir Ernest Shackleton, etc.
