Harry Winston Ocean Biretrograde Automatic 42mm
Press Release
Harry Winston Ocean Biretrograde Automatic 42mm
Like a majestic ship on the horizon, the new Ocean Biretrograde Automatic 42mm navigates the oceans of time with power and precision. The timepiece deck is animated with a sophisticated double retrograde complication and a splash of diamonds that celebrates Mr. Harry Winston, the legendary ‘King of Diamonds’.
A vessel for complications
In 1989, when Harry Winston first entered the world of fine watchmaking, the House integrated its founder’s love for superlative stones and sophisticated jewelry design into the intricate and highly technological domain of timepieces.
Housed in luxurious round gold cases with a distinctive contemporary design, the Ocean Collection is the designated showcase for some of the most respected mechanical complications in watchmaking. The new Ocean Biretrograde Automatic 42mm bears two of Harry Winston’s hallmark complications - excentered hours and minutes and a double retrograde display. As with all timepieces in the Ocean Collection, two arches, inspired by the grand arched doorway leading to Harry Winston’s Fifth Avenue Flagship Salon, embrace the crown. And, in celebration of Mr. Winston’s lifelong passion for diamonds, a total of 367 brilliant-cut diamonds adorn the timepiece with light and sophistication.
An ocean of light
The dial of the Ocean Biretrograde Automatic 42mm mimics the curves and contours of the white gold case, with sweeping arcs and circles that dance to the light of 127 brilliant-cut diamonds. Set against an opalescent white mother-of-pearl dial, the excentered hours and minutes counter on the upper half of the dial is encircled by three rings of brilliant-cut diamonds. The two retrograde counters on the lower half of the dial - indicating the seconds and the day of the week - are also housed in semi-circular counters, with diamond borders and embellished with a wavy guilloché design, like tide marks in the sand.
To create the allusion of depth and volume, the principal counters are slightly elevated above the small diamond-set triangle, drawing the eye towards the circular date window. Equal parts beautiful and functional, the hands are treated with a luminescent coating that glows in the dark, the date window features a magnifying glass and the timepiece is water-resistant to depths of 100 meters.
With the iconic emerald-shaped Harry Winston logo crowning the scenery at 12 o’clock, the words ‘Swiss Made’ and ‘Automatic’ adorn the outermost part of the dial – a reminder of the complications that drive this timepiece.
Complications below deck
The retrograde seconds function traces the arc from zero to thirty, and then jumps back in a counter-clockwise motion to zero. The days of the week counter advances every 24 hours and performs its sweeping jump on Sunday at midnight.
To ensure that the various functions are precise, the Ocean Biretrograde Automatic 42mm timepiece is equipped with a first-class Swiss automatic movement, with the latest silicon technology. There are many advantages of using silicon in the balance spring. It is lighter than metal, impervious to magnetic fields and corrosion, shock- resilient, flexible and less prone to deformation. This avant-garde material will ensure years of impeccable service and optimize the overall isochronism of the movement.
Visible through the sapphire crystal caseback, the movement and the 18-karat white gold rotor are beautifully hand-finished and decorated with circular Côtes de Genève motifs, rhodium plating and circular graining – an exclusive feature of Harry Winston timepieces.
The Ocean Biretrograde Automatic 42mm is presented on an elegant alligator strap in a new shade of blue. Fastened to the wrist with an 18-karat white gold ardillon buckle set with 44 diamonds, an 18-karat white gold folding clasp has been integrated for added comfort and security.