Armin Strom

Master of Resonance

With just over 50 years of company history, Armin Strom is a relatively young player in the Swiss watchmaking landscape, but the timepieces produced by the manufacturer have long been regarded by watch enthusiasts as an interesting alternative to the usual suspects, thanks to their technical sophistication and unique aesthetics.

The brand is best known for its elaborately skeletonized movements with engravings and decorative cuts. Most recently, Armin Strom has also distinguished itself as an innovator in the field of resonance watches. The phenomenon of resonance has fascinated watchmaking legends such as Abraham Louis Breguet and Antide Janvier. However, the technical implementation is so complicated that only a handful of manufacturers have managed to produce such timepieces.

Other highlights in Armin Strom's catalog include watches with tourbillons, minute repeaters, second time zones, or a unique date display with a column wheel mechanism.

The in-house calibers are housed in simple but high-quality cases made of stainless steel, titanium, red gold, or sapphire crystal, depending on the model.

Reasons to Buy an Armin Strom Watch

• Distinctive design
• High-tech in-house movements
• Skeletonized calibers with decorative cuts and engravings
• Watches in stainless steel, titanium, rose gold, or sapphire crystal

Price Overview for Armin Strom Watches

How much does an Armin Strom watch cost?

Prices for a watch by Armin Strom start at around 8,000 USD. One Chrono24, this level of investment will get you a mint-condition Gravity Earth or Manual Water, for example. For as-new Tribute 1 or Gravity Equal Force models, you should budget between 16,000 and 19,500 USD. Timepieces with more elaborate calibers like the Orbit or Pure Resonance can be purchased at prices ranging from approximately 43,000 to 54,000 USD.

A watch from the Masterpieces collection will set you back at least 65,000 USD, while particularly complicated and rare models can easily break the 100,000 USD mark.

Armin Strom Watches at a Glance

When it comes to watch production, Armin Strom focuses on quality rather than quantity. The manufacturer's product catalog is accordingly streamlined and divided into three main collections: System 78, Resonance, and Masterpieces. Many of the watches are also produced in limited editions.

Armin Strom System 78 Collection

Armin Strom Orbit

Watches in the Orbit line belong to the Armin Strom System 78 collection and feature a unique date display. At first glance, it is a centralized pointer date that indicates the current day on a ceramic bezel. However, unlike a conventional pointer date, the Orbit display is equipped with a column wheel mechanism, as is normally found on chronographs. This makes it possible to start and stop the date display. In its resting position, the hand remains at 12 o'clock. However, if you press the push-piece at 10 o'clock it activates the display, and the hand jumps to the current date, then behaves like a normal pointer date. If the push-piece is pressed again, the display stops and the hand returns to its resting position.

The time is displayed on a sub-dial at 9 o'clock, which in turn has a small subdial for the seconds at 7 o'clock. The rest of the dial is completely skeletonized and provides the wearer a view of the micro-rotor, mainspring barrel, and wheel train of the in-house caliber ASS20 inside.

The case of the Armin Strom Orbit is made of stainless steel and has a diameter of 43 mm. The watch is water-resistant to 50 m (5 bar, 164 ft) and has an integrated stainless steel bracelet.

Armin Strom Tribute 1

The Tribute 1 is another line in the System 78 collection. Inspired by the design of classic dress watches, the watch nevertheless has a modern charm that is typical of Armin Strom timepieces.

The case is available in either stainless steel or 18-karat rose gold, and measures 38 mm in diameter. At 9.38 mm thick, the watch is also pleasantly flat. The Tribute 1 is powered by the finely finished, hand-wound caliber AMW21, which is visible through the sapphire crystal case back.

The dial features a decentralized time display positioned at 10 o'clock, and the clearly visible barrel and barrel bridge are located at 4. Depending on the model, the rest of the dial features either a guilloché or "grenage" finish.

Armin Strom offers the Tribute 1 in numerous dial colors, including various fumé finishes and sunburst patterns.

Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force

Another part of the System 78 collection is the Gravity Equal Force line. The watches in this series feature a mechanism that transfers the energy of the mainspring to the balance wheel at a constant rate, regardless of whether the mainspring is fully wound or approaching the end of its power reserve. The result is significantly improved accuracy.

Visually, the Gravity Equal Force is a cross between the Orbit and the Tribute 1. The dial layout is very reminiscent of the Orbit, with the time displayed on a subdial at 9 o'clock. The rest of the dial is dominated by the barrel, micro-rotor, and gears of the caliber ASB19. The 41-mm case is very similar to that of the Tribute 1.

Available in rose gold or stainless steel, the Gravity Equal Force offers a variety of color options.

Armin Strom Resonance Collection

Resonance watches are a specialty of Armin Strom. The way they operate is based on the resonance phenomenon described by mathematician Christiaan Huygens, which states that two closely spaced oscillators – in this case two balance wheels – will, under certain circumstances, begin to oscillate synchronously without any external intervention. They constantly regulate each other, so to speak, resulting in an extremely stable synchronization.

Unfortunately, the state of resonance is very susceptible to external interference, which is why there have been very few watches with this technology so far. Armin Strom solved the problem with a special spring that connects the ends of the two balance springs, thus ensuring a stable resonance.

Armin Strom Pure Resonance

The Pure Resonance is available in either red gold or stainless steel. Its 42-mm case houses the caliber ARF16. All components including the barrel, escapement system, and gears are duplicated in this movement. The two synchronously oscillating balance wheels are clearly visible at 9 o'clock on the dial. Opposite them at 3 o'clock is an off-center subdial for the hours and minutes. A small seconds dial is also located slightly offset above the 6 o'clock position.

The dial options for the Pure Resonance range from dark blue and black to salmon, green and sky blue, and the watch can be worn on either an alligator leather or rubber strap.

Mirrored Force Resonance

The Mirrored Force Resonance is another one of Armin Strom's resonance watches. It differs from the Pure Resonance in that it has a double seconds display, courtesy of the caliber ARF21. A flyback function allows you to set both displays to 0 at the touch of a button.

Here, the time is again displayed on a subdial located at 3 o'clock, which is available in a choice of light green, blue, or gray.

Armin Strom Masterpieces Collection

In the Masterpieces collection, Armin Strom brings together its particularly elaborate creations, which are characterized by a high degree of innovation that is rarely found among traditional manufacturers.

Armin Strom Minute Repeater Resonance

In the 47.7-mm Minute Repeater Resonance, Armin Strom combines a resonance movement with a minute repeater. The watchmakers at the factory have succeeded in integrating the striking mechanism of the watch in such a way that its vibrations do not affect the fragile balance of the two oscillating units.

The caliber ARR18 is skeletonized and finely decorated. Thanks to a sapphire crystal dial, you can view the movement in all its glory from the front. Armin Strom manufactures the case from titanium, which renders the watch relatively light despite its size.

Armin Strom Dual Time Resonance

The Dual Time Resonance is really two watches in one. It is equipped with the caliber ARF17, which, like all Armin Strom resonance calibers, contains all the important components – barrel, escapement, oscillating system, and gears – in duplicate. However, in contrast to the manufacturer's other resonance watches, the two fusées are used to indicate the time independently, as if they were two separate movements. This allows two different times to be displayed simultaneously on one watch. The watch also has a 24-hour display and a 110-hour power reserve indicator.

With a diameter of 59 x 43.3 mm and a height of 15.9 mm, the oval-shaped timepiece has great wrist presence and is available in stainless steel, rose gold, or sapphire crystal.

A Look at the History of Armin Strom

The roots of the Armin Strom brand go back to 1967, when master watchmaker and namesake Armin Strom opened a watch store with a restoration service in Burgdorf, Switzerland. Strom soon made a name for himself with skeletonizations and even made it into the Guinness Book of Records with the world's smallest hand-skeletonized watch. In the early 1980s, Strom began designing and selling his own watches under his own name.

In 2006, the company became a public limited company and Serge Michel and Claude Greisler took over the management of the company. A few years later, Armin Strom retired.

Under Michel and Greisler, the company moved to its new headquarters in Biel in 2009 and developed into a true production facility. In 2011, the Armin Strom brand presented its first product at the new site: the tourbillon caliber ATC11. This was followed in 2015 by the first resonance watch and in 2020 by the launch of the System 78 collection, named after the year of Michel and Greisler's birth.