Harry Winston Ocean Sparkling Biretrograde Automatic

Press Release

Harry Winston Ocean Sparkling Biretrograde Automatic

Harry Winston’s new Ocean model sails into the collection with a scintillating deck made from ruthenium crystals and diamonds. A first in watchmaking, the unique use of ruthenium crystals in the Ocean Sparkling Biretrograde Automatic provides a shiny, textured background for the impressive double retrograde display and off-centered hours and minutes.

Sporting elegance

The Ocean collection is Harry Winston’s designated luxury sports series and combines resilience with sophisticated design. It is also the collection that showcases some of the most respected complications in watchmaking. The Ocean Sparkling Biretrograde features two hallmark Harry Winston complications: a double retrograde display and excentered hours and minutes. Designed for everyday wear and water-resistant up to 100 meters, the two new models, both in 18-karat gold, honor Mr. Winston’s passion for diamonds with their rich setting of baguette and brilliant-cut stones.
 

Magical ruthenium crystals

Always on the lookout for novel techniques and materials that will animate timepiece dials, designers at Harry Winston were struck by the sparkling personality of ruthenium crystals, a crystalline form of ruthenium.

Like sunshine hitting the ocean, ruthenium crystals capture light in unexpected ways. Beyond their appealing sparkle, they have a sandy, slightly gritty texture that adds visual interest and depth to the dial. The crystals together with the 127 brilliant-cut diamonds set on the dial, bring color and light to this spectacular creation.
 

Retrograde motion

The excentered hours and minutes counter commands the upper part of the deck and is emblazoned with the emerald-shaped gold Harry Winston applique at 12 o’clock. White gold indexes, separated by brilliant-cut diamonds, mark the hours, while a chapter ring tracks the minutes. Two arcs framed with brilliant-cut diamonds, house the retrograde days of the week and seconds. Animating the dial with motion, the hands of both retrograde functions advance in opposite directions. The retrograde seconds function traces the arc from zero to thirty, and then jumps back to zero in a counter-clockwise motion. The days of the week counter advances every 24 hours and performs its sweeping jump on Sunday at midnight.

Functionality meets beauty in a handy date window with a magnifying lens at 6 o’clock and again in a blue-glowing luminescent material that adorns the hands, ensuring accurate readings, even in the dark.
 

Ocean style

Housed in luxurious 18-karat white or rose gold cases, the new 42mm Ocean Sparkling Biretrograde models are adorned with a magnificent setting of 67 baguette-cut diamonds. Artfully set on the bezel and lugs, baguette-cut diamonds are also featured inside the distinctive arches at the crown, a nod to the shape of the arched doorway leading to Harry Winston’s Fifth Avenue Flagship Salon.

To ensure that all of the functions – hours, minutes, retrograde seconds, retrograde date and days - work with the utmost precision, the Ocean Sparkling Biretrograde timepieces are equipped with a high-end Swiss automatic movement with a generous power reserve of 65 hours. The balance spring is made from silicon, a cutting-edge material that 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 case back, the movement is beautifully decorated with circular Côtes de Genève motifs, rhodium plating and circular graining. Echoing the sparkling dial, the skeletonized gold rotor (white or rose gold, depending on the case material) is decorated with blue or brown ruthenium crystals.

The Ocean Sparkling Biretrograde Automatic 42mm is presented on an elegant brown or blue alligator strap and is fastened to the wrist with an 18-karat gold folding buckle set with 24 baguette-cut diamonds. Each model is a limited edition of 20 pieces.