Ever since I first started exploring the world of independent watchmaking, Armin Strom is a brand that I have always found appealing. I enjoy their contemporary aesthetics and design language with the use of open worked dials, and that the brand is meticulous when it comes to the finer details and finishing of their watches.
Interestingly, this use of open worked dials is a key part of the history of the brand.
Armin Strom, a watchmaker from the small Swiss town of Burgdorf, opened his own shop in 1967 from which he also offered restoration services. The first watches bearing the name Armin Strom were launched at the Basel Fair in 1984, and in 1990 Armin Strom was awarded a Guinness World Record for his work creating the smallest hand skeletonised watch for ladies.
Armin Strom the watchmaker – photo, Armin Strom
As a watchmaker, Armin Strom became widely renowned for his skeletonising skills; he continued to operate under his own name and was quite well known locally (everyone knew of Armin Strom, the watchmaker who would head off in his red Jaguar E-Type to hand deliver his watches to his clients) until 2006, when he decided he was ready to pass the baton on and sought about finding a way to ensure his legacy continued.
Enter Serge Michel and Claude Greisler, two young men who had grown up in Burgdorf, both fully aware of Armin Strom and his work.
By 2007, the Armin Strom brand was under new leadership in Michel and Greisler, harbouring the ambition to evolve the brand into a full-on manufacture, whilst continuing to respect the traditions of Armin Strom with skeletonised and open worked watches.
Serge Michel and Claude Greisler – photo, Armin Strom
Since Michel and Greisler took the mantle of the Armin Strom brand, they have taken it from strength to strength, constantly innovating, producing high-end complications such as minute repeaters and resonance watches and, I think, succeeding in creating a design language of their own – indeed today the brand talks about its passion for what it calls “transparent mechanics”.
As I said earlier, I am a long-time admirer of Armin Strom watches, one which really caught my eye back when it was launched in 2022 was the Armin Strom Orbit – a watch with an on-demand date complication display, which was unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s not often you get to handle an Armin Strom piece, indeed it took me the best part of 2 years to be able to see the Orbit in person, but on a recent visit to my partners, UK-based independent watchmaking specialist retailer The Limited Edition, I finally got my chance!
Armin Strom Orbit
Armin Strom Orbit on the wrist
The overriding sense I had from my first impression of the Orbit was one of absolute intrigue, and I was eager to explore the watch in more detail.
To my knowledge the Orbit marks the first time (if not the first, then certainly one of the first) that the brand had added an integrated sports bracelet to a watch with folding clasp, and whilst the watch itself was very much in keeping with the design language of the rest of their pieces, I have to say I found it a little… surprising. In the overall context of this watch I do think a bracelet makes sense (it is quite large at 43.4mm and 12.6mm thick), but I felt that the execution could have been a little more refined for a watch such as this.
With that said, let it not detract from what I think is a magnificent concept – the idea of an on-demand date display is a first (at least that I know of) and testament to the innovation and ingenuity of Armin Strom.
So, what does “on-demand date display” actually mean? Well, the automatic ASS20 calibre includes a novel implementation of the column wheel (found in chronograph watch movements), which enables the wearer to alternate between the date being indicated on the watch or not.
When the date is engaged, the hand with the red arrowhead will point to the date as indicated on the ceramic bezel, and when disengaged, the hand returns to the 12 o’clock position pointing to the red “DATE” on the bezel – particularly handy when the date is anywhere from the 17th onwards, and the hand would block the time to one degree or another.
To engage or disengage the date display, the wearer can use the pusher at 10 o’clock, and in so doing enjoy the pusher actuating the column wheel which can be seen immediately above the 12 o’clock position of the subdial displaying the time. “Transparent mechanics” in action.
I found this quite enjoyable to do, especially being able to enjoy seeing how the pusher affected the column wheel and seeing this prompt the movement into action, whether to engage or disengage the display. It adds a real element of fun to the watch and provides a novel vehicle through which the wearer can really engage with it.
Regardless of whether the date display is engaged or not, the mechanism will advance the date at midnight. Or, in the event of a short month you can advance the date quickly via a pusher built into the caseband at about the 8 o’clock position – I do find these pushers a little annoying given the “blemish” they add to the caseband, and given many watches offer a quickset function for the date via the crown this was perhaps a little surprising, but for an innovative watch such as this I do think that would be nit-picking somewhat.
The aesthetics of the dial-side are very Armin Strom, adhering to the ethos of “transparent mechanics”; the open worked dial features three horizontal bridges on the right-hand side of the dial (somewhat of an Armin Strom signature) as well as the brand’s Equal Force Barrel which is visible at 6 o’clock, and even a dial-side micro-rotor which is visible at 1 o’clock (albeit a little hidden). There are plenty of finishing techniques on display such as perlage, brushing and bevelling, which has been immaculately applied to all 273 of the movement components.
On the left-hand side of the dial is a subdial displaying the time, with a small-seconds display at the bottom left of this. The hands and the hour markers on the watch are lumed as well.
Flipping the watch over, the sapphire caseback reveals the remainder of the ASS20 calibre – whilst the micro-rotor and the column wheel are visible on the front of the watch, the reverse side is predominantly a large plate which is engraved with some information about the calibre itself, but also the barrel (when fully wound, the watch offers 72 hours of power reserve), balance spring and escapement in amongst plenty of gears. As you would expect, this is all finished beautifully, standing up to scrutiny under a loupe and macro lens.
Armin Strom’s attention to detail in their watch movement finishing really is incredibly impressive.
In Summary
Armin Strom Orbit alongside Gravity Equal Force
I really enjoyed getting to spend some hands-on time with the Armin Strom Orbit. I found it very interesting to wear, and really enjoyed getting to grips with the on-demand date display function.
Make no mistake, I think what Armin Strom have done and created with the Orbit is really cool and I am very happy that this watch exists – I think it realises an intriguing concept and I applaud the ingenuity behind it. But I do think there are a few things that could be refined a little, mainly with the bracelet but also the quick-set date pusher which is built into the caseband.
The Orbit represents quite a niche concept and a real collectors’ piece, having been born primarily out of Armin Strom wanting to do something different. The practicality of the complication is of course somewhat limited – but with a concept like this, practicality is not really the point, and in fact it is this kind of watch that makes me excited by independent watchmaking.
The Armin Strom Orbit first edition (with a grey time display subdial) was limited to 25 pieces, whereas the production edition (with black time display subdial) is not limited on numbers and is available to order at 35,000 CHF.
To learn more about Armin Strom, visit ArminStrom.com or follow Armin Strom on Instagram. You can also visit our partners at The Limited Edition.
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