Armin Strom Tribute² Copper Edition Watch Review
The Armin Strom Tribute² Copper Edition demonstrates the brand’s prowess for making mechanical movements while incorporating an eye-catching decoration technique termed ‘grattage’. Angus Davies, a self-confessed brand devotee and delighted owner, reflects on the Swiss marque’s rapid ascent to greatness.
Armin Strom watch
In nature, species tend to adapt in response to their environment. Termed ‘evolution’, the frequency of change varies depending on the type of organism. If we consider a virus, it will frequently mutate, often negating the effect of antibiotics. On the other hand, the evolution of humankind has been significantly slower with homo sapiens replacing archaic humans 35,000 – 40,000 years ago, slowly adapting to environmental changes. Reflecting on how humans have changed over the last 100 years, the mean height of the world’s population has increased due to improved nutrition and overall health, albeit as a species we are unable to recognise this change occurring in real time.
Within the world of horology, watch brands evolve at different rates. In fact, some watch brands don’t seem to evolve at all. Several companies procure third-party movements and combine them with a dial and case of their design. Some of the most prestigious marques operating today began life as ‘etablisseurs’, procuring ébauches. This latter term is used to describe a movement, ‘with or without jewels but always without its regulating organ, mainspring, dial and hands’ (Fondation Haute Horlogerie). Thereafter, an etablisseur equips a watch with a case and dial, again of the company’s own design.
Armin Strom was acquired by Serge Michel in 2006
With regard to Armin Strom, the evolution of the brand over the last 15 years has been nothing short of incredible. Mr Armin Strom specialised in skeletonising pocket watches and wristwatches, taking a ‘regular’ watch produced by a third party, eg Omega, and then customising it in his own unique way. In 2006, Mr Strom sold his business to Serge Michel, a young entrepreneur. Under the stewardship of Michel, Armin Strom AG began creating its contemporary watches using third-party movements; however, it soon became apparent that the new owner had ambitious plans for his newly acquired business.
Armin Strom opened its own Manufacture in 2009
Later, in 2009, the company opened a new facility in Biel/Bienne and began developing and making its own movements in-house. Within three years of acquiring Armin Strom, Serge Michel and his longtime friend and Master Watchmaker, Claude Greisler, had created an impressive Manufacture. Plates, bridges, levers, springs, wheels, pinions and screws were all crafted within the modern facility. Following the worldwide financial crisis of 2008, Michel acquired new cutting-edge plant at very keen prices. Should you visit the Manufacture you will see shiny CNC, bar-turning and wire erosion machines producing components to infinitesimal tolerances.
Armin Strom – Claude Greisler
Claude Greisler is an exceptional talent, designing incredible watches that brim with originality and mechanical virtue. There’s no hint of plagiarism with his work, each nuanced detail is solely the product of Greisler’s imagination. While the new generation Armin Strom watches were contemporary, they still subscribed to the openworked design language beloved by its former owner. Indeed, for many years the brand’s advertisements carried the strapline ‘we show what we make’.
After visiting the Manufacture many moons ago, I decided to acquire my very own Armin Strom Gravity Water and while I have disposed of several other watches over the years and have very few these days, the AS will forever remain mine.
Armin Strom – ’15 years of innovation’
Over the last 15 years, the Manufacture has produced hand-wound and automatic watches. It has embraced various complications, including dual-time, tourbillons, minute repeaters and, most notably, its highly inventive take on the resonance watch.
Despite remaining smitten with my Gravity Water, objectively I can see that the company’s products are better than ever. A few months ago, the firm unveiled the Dual Time GMT Resonance, a model that is a personal favourite of 2024. Now, the Swiss marque has just unveiled the Armin Strom Tribute² Copper Edition and while it is simpler than said Dual Time GMT Resonance, its aesthetic charm proves equally impressive. Allow me to elaborate.
Armin Strom Tribute 1
Back in 2021, Armin Strom released the Tribute 1, a limited edition of 25 pieces housed in a 38 mm stainless steel case. Consistent with its forebears, the watch featured an off-centre dial, displaying hours, minutes and seconds. The model also featured a motor barrel (see later) at 4 o’clock, but unlike earlier AS models it delivered restricted views of the mechanical wizardy, revealing just a few additional parts via an exhibition caseback. All examples were quickly snapped up and thereafter, the brand released the Tribute 1 California. The topography of the display was the same but the brand chose to combine Arabics and Romans on the off-centre dial, while at the same time embracing eye-popping hues and guilloché detail.
Armin Strom Tribute² Copper Edition – dial
The latest instalment of AS loveliness shares many elements in common with the Tribute 1 California, such as the steel case and the Calber AMW21 hand-wound movement. However, with the Tribute² Copper Edition, the hours, minutes and seconds are shown off-centre on a grey fumé dial. Moreover, slender batons denote the hours and the motor barrel overlaps the south-easterly region of the dial.
Most notably, the Tribute² Copper Edition shows more of what Armin Strom makes. The crown wheel is partially visible, almost nuzzling beneath the dial, an intermediate wheel adjacent to the barrel is fully shown and a click bridge resides at 7 o’clock. The motor barrel is openworked revealing the mainspring in various states of tension. The barrel is held in place with a glorious twin-arm cock that is exquisitely bevelled and mirror-polished to a resplendent conclusion. As if the brand from Biel/Bienne had not already done enough to seduce horophiles, it has gone further by endowing the remaining surfaces with a ‘grattage’ finish.
Unfamiliar with grattage, I will let the brand describe the decorative technique in its own words:
The process was originally developed by mechanical engineers to create perfectly flat surfaces. Instead of being engraved, hammered or polished, the material is meticulously scraped by hand. This results in a distinctive, stunning pattern – and it is an art form that only a handful of craftsmen still master today. For the mainplate of the Tribute² Copper Edition, this technique is used decoratively and gives each piece a look reminiscent of delicate brushstrokes. The mainplate and its unique finish are further accentuated by a copper-coloured PVD coating.”
Armin Strom Caliber AMW21
The Armin Strom Caliber AMW21 is a hand-wound movement comprising 137 components. As you would expect of a watch of this calibre (pun intended), the level of finishing is superb and is the product of deft, time-served hands.
There are two notable features that I particularly want to touch upon:
Firstly, the watch features a motor barrel. This detail was often found on American railroad pocket watches produced in the early 1900s. The system involves placing the coiled mainspring within a separate steel barrel. Should the mainspring break, the motor barrel protects the gear train from harm, hence it is sometimes called a ‘safety barrel’. Moreover, unlike a regular barrel, with a motor barrel the arbor turns around the mainspring which is far more efficient, something evident with the Tribute²’s impressive 100 hour power reserve.
Secondly, the movement within the Armin Strom Tribute² is equipped with a variable-inertia balance. This means of regulation is superior to an index-adjusted balance found on most mainstream watches. It allows the watchmaker to regulate the watch more precisely, mitigates positional influence on the rate and, should the watch be subjected to a shock, it is less likely to require remedial regulation.
Armin Strom Tribute² Copper Edition – closing remarks
As stated earlier, the rate of evolution differs throughout nature. Likewise, in the world of watchmaking, some brands tick along, producing the same watches year after year with few signs of independent thought. Armin Strom continues to dazzle horophiles with its inventive mindset and its unwavering pursuit of advancement. It leaves me to ponder after 15 years of operating its own Manufacture and with an impressive body of work to its name, how will Armin Strom evolve over the next few years? I can’t wait to see.
Further reading
Technical specification
- Model: Armin Strom Tribute² Copper Edition
- Reference: ST24-TRI.HM.AC.M.A4.FC
- Case: stainless steel, diameter 38.00 mm, height 9 mm, water resistance 5 ATM (50 metres), sapphire crystal to front, exhibition case back.
- Functions: hour, minutes and seconds
- Movement: Calibre AMW21, hand-wound movement, frequency 25,200 Vph (3.5Hz), 21 jewels, power reserve 100 hours, 137 components.
- Strap: delivered with a grey Alcantara calf leather strap paired with a double folding clasp in stainless steel
- Price: CHF 25,000 – (RRP as of 2.12.2024)
- Limited Edition: 10 pieces