Wednesday 21 August 2013

Harry Winston - Opus 12

The Opus series of watches by Harry Winston started in 2000 is one of the most exotic watch collaboration in the history of mechanical watchmaking.

Until of course Max Busser came along with MB&F. The Opus series features watch making at its finest - matching established watchmakers with the House of Harry Winston and developing one of a kind, limited edition timepiece that is instantaneously recognizable. Some of the more notable Opus are Opus 3 by Vianney Halter, Opus 5 by Felix Baumgartner, Opus 6 by Greubel Forsey and Opus 7 by Andreas Strehler. Today I feature the Opus 12 developed with Emmanuel Bouchet.
Harry Winston Opus 12 Dial Side photo HWOpus12DialSide02.jpg

The watch has a small central sweeping seconds and with retrograde 5 minute counter. Just beneath the retrograde minute is the power reserve indicator. There are 12 indices representing the hour and also the 5 minute.
Harry Winston Opus 12 Dial Side photo HWOpus12DialSide01.jpg

So how does one tell time with the Opus 12? Notice the blued indices on the level and twelve o'clock markers? One is shorter (11) than the other. The shorter blue marker indicates the hours. The longer blue index indicates the minutes. In this instance, time is 11.02. Notice the gears just below the bezel? When the retrograde minutes hits 5, the blue index at twelve will rotate down and the blue index at the 1 o'clock position will rotate up signifying 11.05. I did not manage to take a video of the changing indices but I can tell you they are quite marvelous to watch.
Harry Winston Opus 12 Dial Side photo HWOpus12DialSide03.jpg

On the movement side, the finishing is evidently fine and houses the hand wound movement which possesses a 32 hours power reserve. Limited to 120 pieces, this white gold piece is massive on the wrist but sits well. The piece we reviewed is a working piece.
Harry Winston Opus 13 Movement Side photo HWOpus12MovementSide01.jpg

For more information, kindly go to the HW webpage. There you can find a link to the video of the watch. Authorized retailer is The HourGlass.

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