Armin Strom Tribute 1 California (Specs & Value)

The Armin Strom Tribute 1 is the indie watchmaker’s up to date interpretation of a gown watch and appeared within the System 78 assortment earlier this 12 months. The Tribute 1 is a refreshing method to the gown watch with compact proportions, a brand new, skinny in-house calibre, a contemporary, minimalist look and distinctive hand-finishings. First launched in metal with a gray dial in June 2021, two months later, it reappeared with blue and black dials. Right now, the model releases a collection of 5 renditions, the Armin Strom Tribute 1 California, with alternating Roman and Arabic numerals, vibrant fumé dials and a black hand-guilloché plate made by Kari Voutilainen.

Armin Strom, the watchmaker, was famend for his spectacular, extremely intricate hand-skeletonised watches. When he retired in 2006, the model got here into the fingers of a duo of childhood associates, grasp watchmaker Claude Greisler and businessman Serge Michel. By 2009, Armin Strom had a totally built-in manufacture in Biel/Bienne and launched its first in-house calibre ARM09. Since then, Armin Strom has produced extraordinarily advanced watches with a daring, unmistakable fashionable design ethos that exposes a lot of the motion on the dial. Much less advanced than the Mirrored Pressure Resonance or the Minute Repeater Resonance, the System 78 assortment was conceived with a mission to supply Haute Horlogerie watches to a broader public with extra restrained costs. The gathering was inaugurated with the Gravity Equal Pressure and is now dwelling to the Tribute 1 and the Girl Beat.

Good Vibrations

California dials first appeared within the Nineteen Thirties and are primarily a mix of Roman numerals within the high half of the dial (from X to II) and Arabic numerals within the backside (from 4 to eight o’clock) with an inverted triangle marker at 12 and easy markers at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. Typically related to Panerai’s Radiomir dive look ahead to commandos within the Italian Navy within the mid-Nineteen Thirties (made along with Rolex, which patented the design within the Forties), California dials usually are not that prevalent at this time.

New Gradient Colors

The signature off-centred hours and minutes dial is now accessible in 5 colors and restricted to 5 items in every tone. The palette of the Armin Strom Tribute 1 California expands to supply darkish blue, mild blue, inexperienced, burgundy and gray dials with a gradient impact. Also called fumé dials, the color is lighter within the centre and turns into deeper and darker because it reaches the perimeter. The indices and the railroad seconds/minutes observe are picked out in white, and the openworked fingers are manufactured by Armin Strom in metal and completed by hand. The attention-catching black guilloché background on the dial was created by hand by Finnish watchmaker Kari Voutilainen at his Comblémine dial manufacture.

To match the color of the dials, the black alligator straps function vibrant stitching in inexperienced, mild blue, darkish blue, burgundy and darkish gray and are closed with a double folding clasp in metal.

The distinguished barrel that intersects the hours and minutes dial is the salient mechanical function of this mannequin. Suspended by a single openworked finger bridge, the barrel is meticulously embellished by hand and engraved with the phrases “100 hours of energy reserve” in reduction. Given the configuration of Armin Strom’s Tribute 1, with its uncovered barrel within the decrease half of the dial, there aren’t any Arabic numerals at 4 and 5 o’clock.

Good measurement

The Armin Strom Tribute 1 California is available in a compact 38mm case with a peak of 9.83mm, good proportions for a gown watch. The metal case shows alternating brushed and polished surfaces and stands out from the gang with its crown at 2 o’clock and distinctive straight, angular lugs. The signature ‘lip’ discovered at 6 o’clock on Armin Strom watches can be current in a smaller and extra discreet method.

Calibre AMW21

Armin Strom’s newly developed manual-winding calibre was designed with compactness and energy in thoughts. Measuring 33.50mm x 4.20mm, the ultra-slim motion has a motor barrel with an arbour turning across the mainspring contained in the barrel to avoid wasting area and improve effectivity. The watch delivers a sturdy 100-hour energy reserve and the variable inertia stability wheel, additionally held in place by a finger bridge, beats at a 3.5Hz frequency. Like all Armin Strom watches, the motion has been assembled twice.

The finishings are in step with the remainder of the watch: historically executed however fashionable. The three-quarter plate has thick Côtes de Genève with polished bevels; the mainplate shows round graining; the countersinks are polished, and the inscriptions (like those on the barrel on the dial) are engraved in optimistic reduction in opposition to a matte floor and browse “1 out of 5”.

Availability and Value

The Armin Strom Tribute 1 California is proscribed to 5 items in every color and will likely be accessible in December 2021 for CHF 17,900, EUR 16,500 or USD 19,000.

For extra data, please go to Armin Strom’s web site.