Arnold's facility and ingenuity, coupled with his undoubted charm brought him to the attention of the Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne, who at this time was seeking a watchmaker skilled enough to make a copy of John Harrison's successful marine timekeeper. A full and detailed description of this watch was published by the Board of Longitude in 1767, entitled "The Principles of Mr. Harrison's Timekeeper", the intention clearly being for it to act as a blueprint for future quantity production. In fact, it was a highly complex and technically very advanced piece of micro engineering, and capable of being reproduced by less than a handful of watchmakers. However, the challenge was taken up by Larcum Kendall, who spent two years making a near identical copy (now known as "K1") that cost £450, a huge sum at the time.