Arnold & Son

John Arnold, born in Cornwall in 1736, gained renown in 1764 by presenting King George III with the smallest half-quarter repeater ever made, mounted in a ring. He went on to produce pioneering marine chronometers for the British Navy - his No. 3 accompanied James Cook on his second voyage in 1772. Arnold held patents for the detent escapement, bimetallic compensated balance, and helical balance spring. He retired in 1796, passing the company to his son John Roger Arnold, who became a principal chronometer supplier to the Admiralty. The brand was revived in 1995 by British Masters SA in Switzerland. In 2010, Arnold & Son joined Manufacture La Joux-Perret, and in 2012, Citizen Watch Co. acquired the entire Prothor holding. Today, Arnold & Son's twenty-plus calibers are conceived, designed, developed, and produced by sister Manufacture La Joux-Perret in La Chaux-de-Fonds.