Description
Armin Strom Tribute 1 Fumé Ocean
A statement of simplicity, the Armin Strom way. The Tribute 1 is the independent manufacturer’s unique take on the most fundamental of timekeepers, the three-hand watch. Perhaps the most essential expression of the art of watchmaking, every detail in the Tribute 1 is rendered meticulously to achieve a harmonious, integral and highly original piece like no other. Now, it takes on a more dramatic look with fumé dials in four striking hues, with guilloché dial plates by celebrated independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen’s dial atelier. The Tribute 1 Fumé is limited to 10 pieces each in ocean, slate, sky and burgundy dial colours.
Dramatic, intense and reflecting a multitude of tones, the fumé dial gives a new depth to the already three-dimensional Tribute 1. Its vignette effect, which has a distinctly 1970s vibe, creates a striking gradient of bright highlights at the centre of the dial that give way to shadowy contrast towards the outer edge. With a sunray-brushed finish on the metallic base, the dial is animated by light, which can bring out the different tonalities and shades of the four dials’ colours. This spectacular effect is further heightened by the anthracite guilloché plate, which is handcrafted by celebrated independent watchmaker and close friend of the brand, Kari Voutilainen.
On the latest creation from the Armin Strom manufacture, Co-Founder and Master Watchmaker Claude Greisler shared: “The Tribute 1 is a twist on the classic dress watch – literally. From its slender 38 mm steel case with the crown unusually positioned at 2 o’clock, to the off-centred small dial displaying the hours, minutes and seconds, there’s harmony in its asymmetry. Like all Armin Strom creations, there’s something mechanical and quite ingenious to be admired from the dial side.”
Held by an open finger-style bridge is the innovative “motor barrel”. Prominently displayed, it is distinguished by an arbor that turns around the mainspring within the barrel itself, making it far more efficient than traditional constructions, while also conserving space. An impressive feat for a single mainspring barrel that offers 100 hours of power reserve. Showcasing Armin Strom’s mastery of elaborate hand-finishing, the manual-winding calibre AMW21 is lavishly decorated throughout. It incorporates different decoration techniques to embellish its purest movement to date.
The finishing touch to the Tribute 1 Fumé is the velvety-soft and supple Grey Alcantara calf leather strap with white stitching.
With the Tribute 1 Fumé limited editions, Armin Strom offers a punchy and chromatic rendition of its alternative 3-hand dress watch.
Technical Specifications
Indications: Hours, minutes, seconds
Movement: Armin Strom manufacture Caliber AMW21
Hand-wound movement
Regulating system: Flat hairspring with a variable inertia balance wheel
Barrel bridge in brass Power reserve: 100 hours Dimensions: 33.5 mm x 4.2 mm Frequency: 3.5 Hz (25,200 vph)
Finishing: Hand-finishing to the highest quality level
Jewels: 21
Number of components: 135
Case: Stainless steel
Sapphire crystal and case back with anti-reflective treatment
Diameter: 38 mm
Height: 9.38 mm
Width lugs/buckle: 18/16 mm
Water resistance: 5 ATM
Dial: Offset deep ocean blue
Hands: Rhodium-plated
Strap: Grey Alcantara calf leather strap and folding clasp in stainless steel
Limited Edition: 10 pieces
Armin Strom today: Serge Michel and Claude Greisler in partnership
Children born in the same year growing up in a town like Burgdorf (population 15,000) are likely to know each other, either through school, family, or mutual friends. Such is the case with Serge Michel and Claude Greisler, who grew up in the town where Armin Strom, famous for his watch skeletonisation skills, had his watch shop and workshop. When the plastic Swatch watch was launched, having been developed and produced in the nearby city of Bienne, Serge was hooked and started collecting Swatches, following in the footsteps of his father, who is also a watch collector. It was a passion that would continue throughout his life. But while Serge went on to study marketing, Claude decided to become a watchmaker, first attending the watchmaking school in Solothurn before specializing in the restoration of vintage and complicated movements at the CIFOM technical school in Le Locle, concluding his studies there with a specialization in movement development.
Both Serge and Claude had known about watchmaker Armin Strom from a very young age. Serge not only remembers peering through the window of his store to look at the watches, but also the fact that Armin Strom was a local celebrity known for travelling far and wide to deliver his watches to customers. Claude had also known about Armin Strom from an early age, since his parents owned an optician’s shop right next to Armin Strom’s store in the historic centre of Burgdorf. In Serge’s case, Armin Strom became a family friend and at convivial dinners the talk would often turn to watches and watchmaking. It was hardly surprising, therefore, that the family friendship evolved into a business relationship in 2006 as Armin Strom was considering how to ensure the future of his name and reputation.
“I was convinced that this is a fantastic opportunity to maintain this tradition of skeletonizing watches and develop it for the future, and my family agreed,” says Serge. “That was back in 2006, but at the time we didn’t really have the knowledge about watchmaking. We had the passion, but we needed someone who was an expert on the watchmaking side of things, which is where Claude comes in. He joined me in 2007, and we started to set up the brand Armin Strom and change the direction from purely handmade skeletonised watches to a fully equipped manufacture, which we are today.”
For Claude Greisler, it was like a dream come true. “When Serge first called me and talked about taking the brand to the next level with a factory and taking the brand over from someone from the same town as us, it was the perfect mix. Armin Strom had always been interested in the mechanics of the movement, so to be able to take this philosophy forward was a fantastic opportunity.”
The core element in the vision of the duo was always to consider the movement as the very heart of the watch, which meant that the company would need to be a manufacture to produce its own movements. “This was not just a question of designing our own movements,” explains Claude, “but being able to take exactly the kind of brass that we wanted and the type of steel that we wanted to make the best possible plates, bridges, screws and pinions that we could and to do the electroplating and finishing, as well as the assembly, all in-house.”
Armin Strom: A fully integrated manufacture
While Armin Strom is a vertically integrated complete horological manufacture, no new watch movement would ever have seen the light of day were it not for Claude Greisler, who puts ideas such as the one for the revolutionary Mirrored Force Resonance movement down on paper before they are transferred to computer-aided design programmes to start modelling the movement. Like so many things at Armin Strom, all of this is done in-house, with the dimensions calculated down to a precision of one micron to provide the inputs for the machines that will eventually produce the smallest of components.
At Armin Strom, the majority of components in the movement, with the exception of the escapement and balance spring, are produced in-house. Small round components like screws, pinions and gear wheels are produced by profile-turning machines, which gradually whittle away long steel or brass rods from the side to cut teeth or axles. Larger components such as base plates and bridges are produced from brass on CNC machines, which are capable of machining along multiple axes consecutively using different tools for different operations, moving the component using robotic arms.
Particularly small and delicate components, such as smaller bridges, levers and springs, are produced using wire erosion. This involves threading a wire that is not much smaller than a human hair through a tiny hole in the metal. An electrical current running through the wire reacts with a solution in which the entire working plate is dipped, thus “eroding” minuscule amounts of the metal. This allows particularly delicate operations to be carried out while maintaining the structural integrity of the metal. In fact, Armin Strom does not produce any of its components by stamping because of the stresses that this places on the metal.
Once the raw components are manufactured, they are engraved, bevelled, polished and decorated with circular graining or Geneva stripes by hand before moving to the in-house electro-plating department. Here, all steel and brass components are first given a gold plating before a layer of nickel is added to prevent corrosion and harden the surface. After cleaning, the parts are then dipped in other electroplating baths to give them their final colour such as rhodium, ruthenium or rose gold. It is only thanks to its mastery of electroplating techniques inside its own workshops that Armin Strom can allow customers to choose preferred colours for the coating on different components.
Only then can the individual components of the movement be passed on to the watchmaker for assembly. After setting the jewels into the base plate and bridges, the watchmaker adds the gear train and mainspring. After the escapement and balance wheel are positioned, the movement finally comes to life…only to be completely disassembled, cleaned and dried before being re-assembled and lubricated. After several days of testing the precision, the watch is finally ready.
