Description
Armin Strom Tribute 1 Black
Armin Strom has redesigned the dress watch with a cutting edge design that fuses traditional watchmaking with transparent mechanics to celebrate the passage of time.
The Tribute 1 collection showcases the brand’s unique, post-modern interpretation of the classic dress watch while emphasising the pivotal role of the in-house calibre within. Watch aficionados who missed the opportunity to acquire the Tribute 1 First Edition in grey with an 18k white gold barrel bridge now have the chance to add one of the new models to their collection. Available with a black or blue dial, each model is limited to 100 pieces worldwide.
From a distance, the Tribute 1 may appear to be a classic, manually-wound watch because of its exquisitely proportioned 38 mm, stainless steel case with an enticingly slender profile. But, upon closer inspection, the innovation of Master Watchmaker Claude Greisler becomes apparent proving yet again his genius when it comes to creating time with a twist. By utilising a highly efficient motor barrel, whose arbour turns around the mainspring, the in-house Calibre AMW21 delivers an impressive 100-hour power reserve making it not only an efficient mechanism but also a powerful and reliable timekeeper.
Like every Armin Strom watch, the Tribute 1 is a study in three dimensions. It starts with an understated off-centre dial displaying hours, minutes and seconds. The smooth finish is contrasted against an adjacent plate whose silky, grenage finish subtly transitions the hue of the dial from one shade to another as the light changes. The distinctive face is finished off with a refined barrel bridge, a feature that has become a hallmark in Armin Strom’s exclusive timepieces, to remind its wearer of the importance of technology in contemporary horology. The Tribute 1’s crown is located at 2 o’clock, to enhance wearer comfort and aesthetics.
Exceptional hand finishing
Each piece in the collection is characterised by Armin Strom’s commitment to exceptional hand-finishing and attention to movement detail. Claude Geisler says, “I’m obsessed with every detail of this watch, particularly when it comes to finishing. For example, the barrel, visible on the dial side of the timepiece, is meticulously hand-decorated, which is extremely time-consuming. We also manufacture, polish and decorate the hands in-house, which is painstaking but ensures the quality while keeping the price reasonable.”
“There has to be a reason”
Armin Strom’s co-founders Claude Geisler and Serge Michel and their team operate on a principle summarised by Geisler: “There has to be a reason for a new watch to be there.” On the surface, the statement is simple but behind it, there is a philosophy: the brand consistently fuses the values of classic watchmaking – often taking inspiration from vintage pocket watches – with modern movement innovation.” Each Armin Strom watch earns its “reason to be there” by contributing something new and meaningful to the watchmaking canon.
The Tribute 1 – Hand wound, hand-finished, hand-crafted and hand-decorated
These hand-wound watches feature extensive hand finishing, hand craftsmanship and hand decoration. The legend “1 of 100” is engraved on the case back in confirmation of the edition size and the movement can be viewed via the generous sapphire crystal, exhibition case back. The manufactory calibre places the Tribute series within Armin Strom’s System 78 collection which is defined by fine watchmaking, impeccable hand-finishing and a number of innovative horological ‘firsts’ while maintaining an accessible price point. Furthermore, the collection embodies the watchmaking sensibilities of Claude Greisler and Serge Michel, co-founders of the revitalized Manufacture Armin Strom, who were both born in 1978.
The elegant matt black palette of this piece makes a sophisticated statement that will stand the test of time and outlive passing trends as well as withstand the passage of time. It delivers a perfect balance of modern watchmaking, skilled and detailed craftsmanship and elegant design. This is a timepiece that will evolve with you.
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 4.2mm
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 mm
Between lugs (lug to lug): 18mm
Water resistance: 5 ATM
Dial: Offset black
Hands: Manufactured by Armin Strom – stainless steel with hand finishing
Strap: Black alligator leather strap and double folding clasp in stainless steel
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.
