Harry Winston Midnight Chrono Tourbillon Watch

This watch feels like a hot mess to me from a design perspective. Sure, that is at first glance, and I haven't really given it a chance - but what is going on here and why?It looks like Harry Winston is trying really hard to made a watch that is like an Audemars Piguet Millenary, with Royal Oak style hands (that are more boring than Royal Oak hands). According the HW they are "capturing the essence of technology, creativity, and design." Are you kidding me? Who comes up with this garbage copy. I think that HW creates some spectacular designs. I love the Opus collection, and I love the risks that they take, but it sometimes feels like designs skip right by the "taste committee." I mean this is Harry Winston right? Or did I miss something? The case itself is fine. Offered in 18k rose or white gold (50 pieces each in the limited edition), the case is 44mm wide and certainly HW in character.

It is the dial where everything falls apart. This is an instance where asymmetry fails. The watch is too crowded on the right, and too sparse on the the left. The amount of gold color is a bit obnoxious (the lines are too thick) and the chronograph disc implementation seems like an afterthought. Yea, it has a nice looking flying tourbillon - but just because it can. This doesn't really add much to the design. Is it just me, or do the "12" and "6" Arabic numeral hour indicators feels like they don't fit in with the rest of the design? Overall, these elements taken together make for a watch that I feel should never have been. I am sure that the finish and quality of the watch are fine, and if you must have it, go ahead. But in this watch lover's opinion, this isn't a good looking timepiece - and not worthy of what Harry Winston typically puts their name. Look for it soon!

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.