| Arnold & Son was founded in 1764 in London by John Arnold. He was born in Cornwall, the son of a watchmaker and the nephew of a gunsmith. He completed his apprenticeship as a watchmaker, showing interest at a young age in precision metalwork and engineering. He traveled to the Netherlands when he was 19. He established his watchmaking reputation by his mid-twenties, working in London’s Strand. He presented the smallest repeating watch ever created to King George III and his court, rapidly increasing his wealthy clientele. He held patents for a helical balance spring, a detent escapement and a bimetallic balance. Arnold, and his son John Roger Arnold, created a successful firm, which became the leading suppliers of the Royal Navy’s timepieces, such was the accuracy of their chronometers. After Arnold died, Abraham-Louis Breguet, master watchmaker, presented his son with a tourbillon escapement which was mounted in one of the senior Arnold’s earliest pocket chronometers. This watch is in the British Museum. Arnold, the son, formed a partnership with London clockmaker Edward Dent, and when Arnold died, Charles Frodsham took over the brand. |
