Arnold & Son Nebula 41.5 Steel

Two months ago we reviewed the excellent Longitude Titanium from Arnold & Son and were blown away by how far the brand has come since the last time I handled a watch from Arnold & Son. Arnold & Son used to be run by the British Masters and their timepieces, while nice, were nowhere near what you see from the brand today in terms of both movements and finishing. Arnold & Son was heading to Austin for an event with our local watch club, so I thought it was a good excuse to have the brand send me a watch I could wear to the event and also review after.

Before we get into the watch that I was sent from Arnold & Son, let's first go over the history of both the brand and John Arnold himself. John Arnold was born in Cornwall, England in 1736. He established his watchmaking business in London in 1762 and saw near immediate success. The skill shown by Arnold gained him entry into the court of King George III. Arnold even presented a ring to the king containing the world's smallest half-quarter repeater in 1764.



At the time John Arnold was producing timepieces, the most pressing horological challenges were to produce accurate and reliable marine chronometers for ocean travel and navigation. Arnold won several grants from the British Board of Longitude and developed many firsts including patents for a helical balance spring, bimetallic compensated balances and the detent escapement. The timepieces Arnold produced were not just theoretical; his Marine Chronometer No. 3 even accompanied Captain James Cook on his second voyage.

The brilliance of John Arnold was also noted by his peers, most notably Abraham-Louis Breguet. Over the years, the two developed a strong friendship and constantly exchanged ideas. The two even had each other's son work as a watchmaking apprentice for the other. After Arnold passed away, Breguet honored his friend by mounting his first ever tourbillon escapement into an Arnold pocket chronometer.



Before his passing in 1808, John Arnold transferred the ownership of his company to his son John Roger Arnold, who studied under Breguet, in 1796. John Roger then changed the name of his father's company to "Arnold & Son" and continued the production of marine chronometers for the British Navy. After John Roger passed away, the company was fully absorbed by the Frodsham Company.

For the next 130 years, Arnold & Son laid dormant until a Swiss company known as the "British Masters" revived both Graham and Arnold & Son in the mid 1990s after acquiring the rights to both brand names. For the next fifteen years, Arnold & Son produced the more haute horology options for the British Masters and ended up being acquired by Swiss movement manufacturer La Joux-Perret in 2010.



As soon as Arnold & Son was acquired by La Joux-Perret, the brand finally once again became a true manufacture. Arnold & Son now had the production capability to produce fully in-house calibers and really start to explore what was possible in the realms of such things as high complications and skeletonization.

In 2012, both La Joux-Perret and Arnold & Son were purchased by the Citizen Group of Japan. Citizen is one of the largest timepiece manufactures in the world and the acquisition has given Arnold & Son both significant industrial backing as well as long term stability. This has truly allowed the brand to explore any and all ideas it has for complications, calibers and fully realized timepieces. Just by looking back at the Longitude Titanium and the Nebula we'll be focusing on today, you can really see the amazing level Arnold & Son has risen to in the short 15 years since leaving the British Masters.



Initial Thoughts

Having gone over a brief history of both John Arnold as well as Arnold & Son, let's now take a closer look at the Nebula 41.5 Steel sent to us by Arnold & Son. When the watch arrived, the first thing I took note of was just how thin the Nebula was. The Nebula is a decent sized watch when speaking in terms of case diameter and lug to lug length, but it is also incredibly thin. I measured the watch to only be 8.9 mm tall at its thickest point. I think it might be the slimmest forty plus millimeter watch I have ever worn. I'm used to larger watches that have some thickness to them, so it did take a while to get used to how slim the Nebula was.

The next thing I noticed about the Nebula was of course the stunning skeleton work done to the movement. Many watches get labeled as skeletons and might only have the dial removed to show the movement underneath. Others might have a slightly skeletonized movement, where in one area of the dial you can see through the watch. The Nebula on the other hand has a fully skeletonized dial/movement. There really is no dial to speak off on the watch; the only semblance of a dial is the black minute ring that goes around the outside of the dial which includes the small applied hour markers. The dial is completely made up of the in-house manually wound caliber with its seven bridges on full display. It is such a treat looking at this movement and seeing all the components doing their little dance with nothing blocking the view.



The final thing I noticed during my initial time with the Arnold & Son Nebula was the weight of the watch. Typically when I'm looking for a personal watch, or have the choice in picking a watch for review from a brand, I'll normally go with a titanium, carbon or ceramic option. I knew I wanted to review a Nebula, but there was no titanium option available, so I ended up requesting a version in stainless steel. One of the main reasons I prefer titanium over stainless steel is because steel tends to be much heavier than titanium. With liking larger watches, this ends up making a watch a bit too heavy for my preference. I was blown away when I weighed the Nebula and it ended up being just 55 grams including the rubber strap and pin buckle. This might be the first "larger" watch that I don't think would save much weight moving from stainless steel to titanium.

Technical Specifications

Now that we've gone over my initial impressions of the Arnold & Son Nebula 41.5 Steel, let's now take a look at the technical specifications of the watch. The Nebula is crafted out of stainless steel and has a case diameter of 41.5 mm and a lug to lug length of 46.8 mm. On our scale the watch weighed in at 55 grams on the rubber strap and buckle and at its thickest point was 8.9 mm tall. This means the watch still has a big presence on the wrist, but weighs next to nothing and will fit under any cuff.



The Nebula has a slightly domed sapphire crystal that has anti-reflective coating on both sides. Underneath the crystal clear sapphire is the skeletonized movement and semblance of a dial. Around the outside of the dial is the black ring that makes up the backdrop for the minutes ring. Each minute is represented by a small white hash mark, while each hour is done with an applied rhodium plated arrow marker. The Arnold & Son logo is placed at 12 o'clock and "Swiss Made" can be found at 6.

There are two centrally mounted hands on the dial being the hour and minute hands. These silver hands are sword shaped and done in high polish. Between 7 and 8 o'clock is a small black ring with white hash marks. At the center of this ring is the polished silver running seconds hand. None of the hands or dial markers on the Nebula feature any luminous material.



The main focus on the dial of the Arnold & Son Nebula are the seven bridges each held in place by their own screw. These bridges are the same shape, but are different in size and are meant to represent the arms of stars radiating out from the center of a nebula. These satin finished bridges are all openworked and chamfered while being positioned at regular intervals.

The bridges at 12, 3 and 9 o'clock each hold a jewel for the gear train. The bridge at 1:30 supports the right-side mainspring barrel. At 4:30 is the balance cock, which holds the balance wheel. Then at 7:30 is the axle for the small seconds display. Finally you have the bridge that supports the left-side mainspring barrel at 10:30. Looking at these bridges shows the heritage the brand is respecting in John Arnold's chronometers as well as the expertise the manufacture now possesses.



Jumping to the back of the watch, the case back is fixed to the case using six case screws. Important information about the watch is engraved on the very thin stainless steel bezel. Most of the case back is made up of a huge sapphire crystal which lets you peer into the back of the A&S5201 caliber which is made in-house by Arnold & Son in Switzerland. There are two large DLC treated black arches on the back of the movement which intersect with each other. You also get an amazing view of the two large mainspring barrels and much of the gear train is fully exposed here. Arnold & Son uses their own finishing called "Rayons de la Gloire" on the movement as well. This pattern is most common to the more widespread sunray finishing technique.

The A&S5201 beats away at 21,600 vph (3Hz) and has a substantial 90 hours of power reserve. The movement features 24 jewels and has a diameter of 31.1 mm and is only 4.18 mm thick. On our timegrapher the A&S5201 showed an accuracy of +2 seconds per day when averaged out over several positions. This shows exceptional accuracy that is well within chronometer specifications. Also being a manual wound caliber, the crown starts to offer back a nice and obvious resistance when the watch is nearing being fully wound.



The case of the Arnold & Son Nebula is fully polished with no parts of the case having satin or brushed finishes. Looking at the profile of the watch you can see that the case is mostly flat. The short lugs do slope down nicely to follow the shape of your wrist though. The right hand side of the case features a large and flat almost onion style crown. The crown does not screw down and offers a splash proof 30 meters of water resistance. The crown also has a decent amount of scalloping to it, making it more than easy enough to get good grip on. You wind the watch in the crown's resting position, while pulling it out to its only position allows you to set the time and does not stop the seconds hand. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minutes hand either.

The Nebula has a lug width of 20 mm which means the watch can accept virtually endless amounts of aftermarket straps since 20 mm is the most common lug width. The Nebula comes on a black ballistic rubber strap that tapers down to 17.5 mm at the polished pin buckle with the Arnold & Son logo on it. The top of the strap has a repeating pattern to it while the back of the strap is smooth. The strap is very subtle and required zero break in time to be comfortable. I know traditionally watches like the Nebula would come with a pin buckle, but I would have preferred the extra security from accidental drops that a deployant clasp adds to watches of this caliber.



On The Wrist

The Arnold & Son Nebula 41.5 Steel arrived just in time for the event the brand was hosting, so I only had a chance to wear the watch once before the event. The first time I wore the Nebula, I was a bit thrown off by how thin the watch looked. Remember I typically wear watches like Royal Oak Offshores and Big Pilots, along with various larger divers. While the case diameter was in-line with watches I wear, the thinness kept throwing me for a loop. After the first night of wearing the Nebula, I was a bit unsure of how I felt about the watch on wrist.

The second time I wore the Nebula, it was to the event hosted by Arnold & Son. This time I was busy helping the brand setup the space and was running around a ton. This made me not think too much about the watch and how it looked compared to my chunkier watches. What really became apparent was how the watch completely disappeared on my wrist. 55 grams is even lighter than some of my lightest titanium and carbon watches. As the evening went on, I really started to get used to the look of the Nebula on my wrist as well. I actually started to like how thin the watch was and appreciate what must have gone into developing the movement.



While I'm not 100% sure that I would call the Arnold & Son Nebula a dress watch, it is much dressier than anything I have in my collection. Before the watch was shipped, I made sure to ask the brand to send the Nebula on a rubber strap, since I feel on a leather strap the watch wouldn't fit in with my overly casual dress. The ballistic rubber strap did wonders in making the watch blend with my typical dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. The aesthetic of the watch is all black and grey, so I couldn't ask for better colors on a watch to match my monochrome typical dress.

I wore the Nebula out to run everyday errands and the watch really felt like a great wrist companion since it literally weighs nothing. The Nebula is really only there when you need it and never made itself known or caused a whiff of wrist fatigue. The rubber strap was also a treat, keeping the watch perfectly centered on my wrist. The Nebula is a good deal smaller than my preferred 50 mm or slightly larger lug to lug length, but honestly I think the watch might look a bit off if it was much larger. Once again, this isn't a dive watch which benefits from being a larger size.



To test the legibility of a watch I use a very simple test of seeing how easy it is to read the time at just a glance while driving. In this test dive watches with their large high contrast dials and hands to the best, while skeletons and complicated pieces do the worst. I wasn't really expecting the Nebula to do great in this test and in the end my hunch was correct. The watch is all about design and highlighting the abilities of the manufacture. The movement is the star of the show and everything else, including the hands and markers, take second place. It does take a second to get your bearings while glancing at the Nebula and the hands, even though polished, do blend into the movement a bit. This does slow down time telling naturally. Also with no luminous material on the dial, low light time telling can be a bit tough, mostly relying on catching a reflection off of the polished hands. I don't think Arnold & Son were shooting for legibility first with the design of the Nebula, and these results as expected show that.

When I wore the watch out in my daily life as well out to the event hosted by Arnold & Son, the watch got a ton of looks and comments. This is by no means surprising to me since the movement being so fully on display is destined to draw in eyes. Most people commented on being amazed by the openworked movement and also how lightweight and thin the watch was. When it came to the price of the watch, those who knew something about watches actually thought it was very fair. Also I have to mention that while at the event, Arnold & Son had their newest Nebula models on display as well. The watch now maxes out at 40 mm and the case has shifted to having solid lugs crafted out of the same piece of steel the case is milled from. The 41.5 mm Nebula has attached lugs on the other hand. Honestly, I'd probably choose to go with the larger size personally, even if the lugs weren't of the new one piece design.



Value and Position in the Market

The Arnold & Son Nebula 41.5 Steel retails for $17,900. For that price you are getting a just stunningly executed skeleton dial and movement done fully in-house. The caliber is also extremely well finished and runs about as accurately as you could ask for. At this level of watchmaking, the price seems rather justified to me, but now is a good time in the review to compare the Nebula to other watches with similar features and specifications and see how it stacks up value wise.

Up first we have the Gravity Equal Force Ultimate Sapphire Blue from Armin Strom which has a 41 mm case crafted out of stainless steel. The Gravity Equal Force doesn't have a fully skeletonized dial, but does offer a decent bit of the movement exposed dial side. The watch is powered by an in-house movement with an equal force barrel and has 72 hours of power reserve. The case has the same 30 meters of water resistance as the Nebula as well. The Gravity Equal Force is a lot more expensive than the Nebula at around $34,500.

Moving on is the Excalibur Monobalancier Titanium from Roger Dubuis which has a 42 mm case crafted out of titanium. The watch does offer a completely openworked dial showing off the top of the in-house caliber with 72 hours of power reserve. The Excalibur comes on a full titanium bracelet and offers a bit more water resistance at 100 meters. The Roger Dubuis is also a lot more expensive than the Arnold & Son coming in around $70,000.



Next up is the Tonda PF Skeleton from Parmigiani Fleurier which has a 40 mm stainless steel case. The Tonda still doesn't have nearly as much of the movement and dial skeletonized as the Nebula, but is decently openworked. The Tonda is powered by an in-house movement with 60 hours of power reserve. The case does have a bit more water resistance than the Nebula at 100 meters. The Tonda is also a lot more expensive than the Nebula at around $80,000.

Finally we have the 5180/1R-001 from Patek Philippe which has a 39 mm case crafted out of rose gold. The 5180/1R does have a fully skeletonized dial and movement like the Nebula. The watch runs on an in-house movement with 48 hours of power reserve. The Patek Philippe has the same 30 meters of water resistance as the Arnold & Son. Even with being made in a precious metal, the 5180/1R is much more expensive than the Nebula at $144,331.

Looking at these four watches from top manufactures that feature dials and movements that are somewhat skeletonized and run on an in-house calibers, you can see how great of a value the Nebula is. The Nebula has specifications that are pretty much in line with all the other watches and comes in at a much lower asking price. Besides the Patek Philipp 5180/1R-001, the Nebula is also by far the watch that showcased the most skeletonization of the dial and movement as well.



Closing Thoughts

So in the end, is the Arnold & Son Nebula 41.5 Steel for me? As much as the watch impressed me, it's just not the type of watch I collect personally. If you look at my personal watches you'll see that every piece is either a sports watch, diver or pilot's watch. I tend to stick to larger and bulkier watches that are made out of carbon, ceramic or titanium. The Nebula does have the case diameter that I prefer, but is smaller than the 50 mm lug to lug length that I prefer. Also it's amazing that Arnold & Son was able to get the case and movement as slim as they did, but it's just a bit too slim for me. While the Nebula isn't exactly a dress watch, it does skew closer to that than it does a sports watch, and I don't have any dress pieces in my collection.

Would I then recommend the Nebula to somebody looking to add a skeletonized piece to their collection? Well I know I'm in the huge minority that wouldn't consider adding a dress piece to their collection and still likes larger watches, so the issues I had with those two aspects of the Nebula are pretty much mute. The level of finish and execution of the openworking on the watch is stunning and top notch. At the price range the Nebula sits, it's nearly impossible to find a watch with as much of the movement and dial skeletonized. The Nebula is also running a completely in-house caliber that was designed from the ground up for this watch. The view of the movement from the front and the back offers a drastically different look as well. If somebody was scared off by the 41.5 mm case size of the Nebula, Arnold & Son now only offer the watch in 38 and 40 mm versions with the new case featuring solid lugs. So to answer the question of if I'd recommend the Nebula to somebody looking to add such a watch to their collection, I one hundred percent would without hesitation.



I'm honestly walking away from my time with the Arnold & Son Nebula extremely impressed with the brands ability to create a fully skeletonized watch at an amazing price. My time with the Longitude showed me that the brand had the ability to create a sports watch that could compete toe to toe with the likes of Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe. The Nebula has shown me that Arnold & Son can also produce a beautiful openworked watch that once again matches anything seen from the top tier manufactures.

I'd really like to thank Arnold & Son for sending us this Nebula to review and also to wear to their event here in Austin. The event was a great place to see the entire range of Arnold & Son watches and really get a feel for what the brand is doing as a whole. I know Arnold & Son have some really exciting releases around the corner and can't wait to continue exploring the brand with hands on reviews.

For more information about the Nebula 41.5 Steel please visit : Arnold & Son

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: 1NEAS.B05A.K003S

Retail Price: $17,900

Case Size: 41.5 mm

Lug to Lug: 46.8 mm

Thickness: 8.9 mm

Weight: 55 grams

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Bezel: Stainless Steel

Strap: Black Ballistic Rubber Strap with Stainless Steel Pin Buckle

Movement: Swiss Made In-House A&S5201 Hand Wound Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes and Seconds

Power Reserve: 90 Hours

Water Resistance: 30 Meters