Before Armin Strom (the man) stepped down and eventually retired in 2011, he was already known worldwide as a master watchmaker who specialized in the art of skeletonizing. So when he sold his company to the Michel family in 2006, the new owners continued his mantle and transformed the firm’s watchmaking capabilities by establishing a full-scale, vertical Manufacture in 2008. Since that time, ARMIN STROM (the company) has grown exponentially to develop and produce nine in-house movements, including a micro-rotor tourbillon.
Indeed, being a privately owned company has allowed ARMIN STROM to pursue special projects that would have otherwise been mired in corporate red tape. As a result, innovations that demanded investment in research, time, and technical skill has been able to flourish under the watchful eyes of company director, Serge Michel and chief horologist, Claude Greisler. Together, they have turned the founder’s renown in skeletonizing into a guiding force for the Biel/Bienne-based Manufacture.
This has not been more apparent than in the brand’s Tourbillon Skeleton collection. Indeed, if there ever was a hallmark for ARMIN STROM, it would be their ability to create open-worked watches that exuded a superb level of finissage. And while very few Manufactures are capable of producing tourbillons, there are even less so with the skill and capability to fully skeletonize one. Indeed, the technical challenge that faced the Manufacture necessitated the design of a new movement from scratch. Which is why at Baselworld 2016, ARMIN STROM introduced their latest foray into skeletonizing that featured the addition of a one-minute tourbillon.
Using the ARMIN STROM Skeleton Pure as its jumping-off point, the new Tourbillon Skeleton collection combines the same 43.4 mm case with the brand’s special signature “lip” at 6 that can be engraved. Alas, there’s not much difference between the old and new collection, save for the new movement’s raison d’être, which as its name implies is a tourbillon to die for, one combined with a directly driven small second placed just on top of its axis.
The manually wound ATC11-S Calibre features a double going barrel for 10 days of autonomy, fully skeletonized main plate, gear-train bridges and barrel-bridges, a PVD coated mainplate that emphasizes the caliber’s layered construction, escape wheel and pallets made of solid gold with hardened functional areas, and a screwed balance with Breguet overcoil. Indeed, because of the skeletonizing, the movement’s mechanical artistry was enhanced. Thus, along with the constant rotation of the tourbillon, owners will observe the animation of the double going barrel while the watch is being wound.
Additionally, it should also be noted that the ATC11-S Calibre was conceived from the get-go to be open-worked and, thus, does not feature the old-school manner of skeletonizing, with its ornate and baroque decoration and engraving. This new Manufacture movement is open-worked in a very modern, near-architectural style. In other words: nothing ornate to be found here.
Best of all, the ARMIN STROM Tourbillon Skeleton is a collection of four watches that are produced in accordance with the brand’s signature “elements,” namely: Fire, in the form of classic 18K rose gold; Water, in straightforward stainless steel; Air, in the “lighter” titanium; and Earth, for the much darker black PVD coated stainless steel. Each model, then, is a variation of those themes: i.e. Tourbillon Skeleton Fire, Tourbillon Skeleton Earth, etc.
Finally, like all ARMIN STROM watches, the new Tourbillon Skeletons feature a slightly off-centered display of the hours and minutes. The hands and main movement elements are skewed ever so slightly to the left, along with the sapphire crystal flange. This results in a slightly off-kilter but nonetheless impressive looking dial.
The ARMIN STROM Tourbillon skeleton is matched to a leather alligator strap in either brown, grey, white, dark blue, or black depending on the model, with a special black rubber strap as an option.
