Haute Time: Harry Winston Opus 1

The introduction of Harry Winston’s Opus timepieces are always awaited with great enthusiasm at Baselworld and this year’s Opus has puzzled those passionate about high complications like never before.

Opus 12 rebels the conformist rules of watch making, creating a most improbable mechanical concept. This exceptional timepiece intentionally throws out the perception of time by portraying its inspiration from the Copernican revolution, in which the earth rotates around the sun and around itself. Time does not read via a pair of hands situated in the center of the dial, instead the peripheral drive of 12 pairs of hands are going from the circumference to the center. The hands, pointed towards the interior draw concentration to the center of time. A nostalgic hand, harmonized with the main minutes hand, advances along a five-minute sector. At the end of its travel it racees back to its initial position while the long five-minutes hand pivots and sets itself still.

In the majority watches the evolution of time is unnoticeable. Opus 12, on the other hand, goes into action in an extraordinary way, its hands alter the guard every five minutes. At each change of the hour, the movement executes an elaborate drill exercise by the consecutive rotation of the hands. Below the retrograde indication, a floating small seconds hand adjust on a translucent ring passes above a power-reserve indicator.

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