For the first time, boutique outfit Armin Strom has rendered the off-center dial of its Mirrored Force Resonance with a summer-ready sunray guilloché pattern in sky blue.
The lines radiating from the dial’s center are decorated using a traditional hand-operated rose-engine lathe, playfully catching the light, creating an even more vibrant and deep view under the sapphire crystal. A joyous aesthetic that belies the headache that the underlying mechanics no-doubt bring to the in-house watchmakers.
Armin Strom was set up 1967 by the eponymous founder and initially focused on hand-crafted skeletonization, engraving and decoration. It even received a Guinness World Record in 1990 for the smallest hand-skeletonized women’s watch. In 2006 it was revived by childhood friends Serge Michel and Claude Greisler (pictured above), who established an integrated manufacture, in the heart of Swatchland, i.e. Biel / Bienne, depending on your Schweizerdeutsch / Suisse.
On the left side of the Mirrored Force Resonance Ice Blue’s dial, the so-called ‘resonance’ mechanism – made famous in recent times by the nascent F.P. Journe – takes centerstage: two balances oscillating in opposite directions, connected by Armin Strom’s patented clutch. Two second counters confirm the synchronization of the balances, which ‘balance’ each others’ oscillatory ‘wobbles’ through their immediately adjacent atmospheric rhythms.
The manually wound Caliber ARF21 that powers this timepiece has been hailed as a watchmaking breakthrough in the mastery of resonance. It facilitates the synchronization of two balance wheels via Armin Strom’s patented ‘Resonance’ clutch that connects two sets of oscillators, each with its own balance wheel and hairspring. The mechanism ensures enhanced precision and chronometric stability, visible on the display of twin seconds counters. A pusher at 2’clock resets the counters, allowing the wearer to have a visual proof of how accurate the resonance mechanism really is.
At Armin Strom, hand-finishing is just as important as micro-technological headaches, and sure enough the brand’s attention to detail is visible through the sapphire crystal, front and back, with a display of hand-beveled and polished bridges and black-polished screws. A cocktail of perlage, Geneva stripes and circular graining are decorative techniques that reflect the brand’s conviction that each component of every timepiece must represent the essence of the brand, even if the only person who’ll bear witness is the watchmaker servicing your pride and joy five years down the line.
Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance Ice Blue, limited to just 15 pieces; CHF78,000; arminstrom.com