Dialed In: All the Time in the World

AccutronEvery now and then, a watch comes along that demolishes all your preconceived notions of the way things are in watchmaking. This week, Accutron released the Horizon, an entirely new timepiece (in two colorways, blue and black) that positively bristles with complications normally associated with five- and six-figure watches and at a very attractive price to boot.It's a bold move from the brand that created the very first fully electronic watch back in 1960. With that model, Accutron debuted its tuning fork technology, by which a traditional mechanical watch escapement, with all its susceptibility to friction and gravity, was replaced with a tiny metal tuning fork powered by electricity via a built-in transistor. What made the tuning fork ground-breaking was the fact that, under power, it vibrated at a constant and continuous rate. And it made the aptly named Accutron (hence the name) accurate to plus or minus one second a month, an unimagined degree of accuracy at that point, and, frankly, for a long time after too.Back to the Horizon. First up in a litany of nifty and rather mind-blowing gizmos is the fact that this Master Complication tells you the time not only with the hands of the watch in the conventional way, but also with sound. This watch is a minute repeater, chiming the current time in hours, then quarter hours, then minutes at the press of a button. Derived in the 18th century from the need to know the time at night a good century before electric light and SuperLuminova markers made their appearance, the minute repeater could—once you got the hang of it—tell you the exact time even in pitch darkness. But it's a complication so rare and expensive to make, that we honestly can't think of a minute repeater ever produced at such a compelling price.The bells and whistles don't stop there. With three sub dials in glittery black sandstone that looks like the night sky) set into a granular dial made from Denchu, another granular sandstone, all beneath the conventional center hands, this watch is both a Perpetual Calendar and Chronograph. It features the day and the date, the leap year, the phases of the moon, a second time zone and a day/night indicator, all packed into an elegant and sporty 41.5mm stainless steel case. This, by the way, is made in a superior 904L steel with a matching steel bracelet, an alloy known for its deep luster when polished, as well as its resistance to corrosion and pitting. Underlying all this style is the Horizon's substance; the watch is driven by a quartz movement that offers excellent accuracy.If you want to understand the meaning of time, you only have to gaze into the Horizon's dial, which breaks it all down for you in a very cool package. Reading it will keep you busy for days.