Chef Jason Atherton Joins Arnold & Son as a Brand Ambassador

Arnold & Son introduced chef Jason Atherton as its latest ambassador.

Jason Atherton is a renowned English chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur. Since the opening of his flagship restaurant ‘Pollen Street Social’ in April 2011 in Mayfair, Jason has taken the dining scene by storm and launched fourteen additional restaurants across the globe, three of which are Michelin starred.

Arnold & Son shares many of the values that have catapulted the chef to the highest echelons of his profession worldwide and is proud to announce that he has now joined the ranks of its ambassadors.

Haute horlogerie and haute cuisine have more in common than one might think. Both share the unending quest for perfection and refinement. They do not simply strive to satisfy a basic need but they fulfill their goal with upmost elegance and an incredible love for details. Ultimately, the goal of both disciplines is to excite the senses for the sake of pleasure.

Staying on top in haute cuisine requires, just like in watchmaking, attention at all times. Just as in watchmaking, nothing is permanent in haute cuisine. Perfection allows no rest and tolerates no missteps. Haute cuisine and haute horlogerie also share a core value: creativity. Both heirs of rich traditions, they must nevertheless constantly surprise and seduce again. The foundations are laid, all that’s left is to invent.

 From left: Frédéric Wenger, CEO, Arnold & Son Jason Atherton,
and Sébastien Chaulmontet, Head of Innovation, Arnold & Son

Arnold & Son is therefore proud to welcome such an extraordinary person as Jason as its ambassador. All the shared passion and dedication have created a very strong bond.

Jason has chosen the iconic Time Pyramid from the Instrument Collection as his watch. It perfectly symbolizes the link between past and present, between heritage and modern creativity. The Time Pyramid encapsulates the historical DNA of the brand while remaining singular and utterly unique. It is in this aspect that it embodies haute cuisine as conceived and exercised by Jason.

Deftly demonstrating its British heritage, the Time Pyramid is inspired by the regulators created by John and John Roger Arnold over two hundred years ago, and by antique British skeleton clocks. Built in a pyramidal shape, the unique skeletonized movement of the Time Pyramid follows the original regulators from the brand with its component positioning and detailed three-dimensional visual appeal.

The gear train runs vertically in a linear format connecting the balance wheel at 12 o’clock to the two barrels at 6 o’clock, endowing the movement with its pyramidal structure. The two mainspring barrels supply the hand-wound caliber with an amazing 90 hours of power reserve, and provide a more constant force to the gear train. 

Rose gold Time Pyramid

The bridges are designed so that all of the wheels, the two mainspring barrels, the escapement and balance wheel are all magnificently visible from the dial side. Movement parts and watch indications are built on three levels, with the subsidiary seconds dial on the bottom, the hours and minutes indication on a sapphire crystal dial in the middle level, and the power reserve indication via graduated dots printed under the top sapphire crystal. While the movement is extremely thin – at just 4.4 mm – the multiple levels bring amazing depth and detail to the watch. To further enhance the balance and symmetry of the Time Pyramid, the crown is artfully positioned at 6 o’clock.

About Jason Atherton

Jason Atherton started out working alongside great chefs including Pierre Koffmann, Marco Pierre White, Nico Ladenis and Ferran Adria at el Bulli, before joining the Gordon Ramsay Group in 2001. After launching ‘Maze’ in London and overseeing the opening of five more ‘Maze’ restaurants globally, Jason left Gordon Ramsay Holdings to launch his own restaurant group, The Social Company.

His flagship restaurant ‘Pollen Street Social’ opened in April 2011 in Mayfair and was awarded a coveted Michelin star within just six months of opening. It has been awarded 4 AA Rosettes by the AA Guide, named The Good Food Guide’s ‘Best New Restaurant’ and hailed the third best restaurant in the UK.

Jason Atherton

Jason was awarded ‘Chef Of The Year’ by ‘Caterer and Hotelkeeper’, which for a chef, Jason has likened to winning an Oscar.

‘22 Ships’ was launched in Hong Kong in late 2012, which took the Asian dining scene by storm. Following on from the huge success of his first Hong Kong restaurant, Jason opened a second named ‘Ham and Sherry’. Next came the launch of ‘The Commune Social’ in Shanghai, which Jason launched in the trendy district of Shanghai French Concession. It has already been voted best new restaurant in Shanghai by Time Out.

In 2013 Jason launched three new restaurants in London. His second Mayfair restaurant ‘Little Social’ opened in March to great critical acclaim.

Shortly after, Jason opened ‘Social Eating House’ in Soho on Poland Street, with head chef Paul Hood. ‘Social Eating House’ became Jason’s second Michelin starred restaurant. In the autumn of 2013, at the height of London Fashion Week, Jason launched Berners Tavern in the London Edition Hotel to great furor.

2014 was another big year for Jason and his team, with three restaurant launches – firstly, the grand Gatsby-esque City Social atop the 24th floor of Tower 42, which won a Michelin star within six months of opening, followed closely by Aberdeen Street Social in Hong Kong – a third collaboration with Yenn Wong’s JIA Group.

2014 also saw the release of a new cookbook, Social Suppers, commissioned by Absolute Press and published by Bloomsbury, with a second book Social Sweets released in June 2015.

In May 2015 Jason opened his first stateside restaurant The Clocktower, an all-day dining space set within the New York Edition Hotel on Madison Avenue. This was followed swiftly by Social Wine & Tapas in London’s Marylebone – a casual tapas bar and wine shop overseen by Jason’s long-term executive sommelier Laure Patry. In September, Jason opened his first ‘Social’ restaurant in Dubai, Marina Social, a stunning waterside restaurant within the new Intercontinental Dubai Marina.

Projects in 2016 so far have included Kensington Street Social within The Old Clare Hotel in Sydney; Sosharu, a Japanese izakaya-style restaurant and bar in Clerkenwell; and The Pig & Palm, a modern tapas restaurant in Cebu, The Philippines. Next year will see the launch of an Italian restaurant in Victoria’s new Nova complex.