Armin Strom Goes Exotic, With The New Gravity Equal Force Jungle Green

First launched in 2019, the Gravity Equal Force is Armin Strom‘s vision of a modern, impressively technical time-only watch. Not as complex as the Mirrored-Force Resonance, it is nevertheless a watch that is packed with horological expertise and is far from just a simple automatic model… That wouldn’t be in line with what the brand stands for. Defined as “the world’s first automatic watch with constant force transmission” it now comes back in a striking edition combining modern mechanics, openworked architecture, classic haute horlogerie execution and bold colour. Meet the Gravity Equal Force Jungle Green. 

Armin Strom has long demonstrated being of the forefront of innovation when it comes to movement’s construction and modern techniques applied to the science of precision. This long-term vision of the brand, driven by clever minds of Serge Michel and Claude Greisler, started in 2016 with the launch of the revolutionary Mirrored Force Resonance, a truly groundbreaking innovation that took the concept of resonance to the next level. Since then, the brand has proven its capacity at creating impressively complex watches focused on precision (but not only) with, for instance, the Dual Time Resonance or the Minute Repeater Resonance. And in 2019, the duo at the head of Armin Strom decided to apply this science to simpler models, under the System 78 collection. But, as you’d expect, simple isn’t really a word to be used at Armin Strom.

The concept behind the Gravity Equal Force was to create a movement that would deliver consistent power by rethinking the construction of the barrel – one of the most undervalued parts of a movement, yet of critical importance, being what stores and delivers energy to the regulating organ. The main issue associated with the mainspring and the barrel is its tendency to deliver uneven power, with a decreasing torque. The idea with Gravity Equal Force was to use only the spring’s optimum range only. For that, Armin Strom has created a special Geneva stop-work, just like some rare hand-wound movements, but specifically adapted to an automatic movement. To avoid low torque, the first turns of the barrel are therefore not used. And with the Gravity Equal Force and its clever micro-rotor/barrel duo, as soon as the watch starts and the seconds hand moves, you know the spring delivers enough power.

All of that technology is housed in an in-house movement, Calibre ASB19, wind by a micro-rotor and delivering a comfortable power reserve of 72 hours. The escapement beats at an unusual but well-calculated frequency of 3.5Hz (or 25,200vph) that Armin Strom considers optimal. The movement is designed and produced in-house at the brand’s manufacture in Biel. Like every Armin Strom watch, its ASB19 automatic winding calibre will be assembled twice. After its first assembly, the movement is painstakingly disassembled and each individual part is cleaned, dried, reassembled and lubricated before being meticulously regulated, tested, and returned to the case.

What’s new today is this Jungle Green edition of the Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force. We’ve seen the watch already in multiple variations but this new model might well be the most striking of the lot. Relying on the classic 41mm stainless steel case with brushed and polished surfaces, as well as the signature lugs of the new collections, the movement is here presented in a black PVD-coated style, in order to create contrast with the elements of the movements – under the three nicely finished “finger bridges” you’ll find the micro-rotor, some of the gear train wheels and the barrel, all rhodium-plated to stand out. To keep the focus on the dial, the watch is worn on a classic black alligator strap (but I’m sure some future owners will find more striking options).

The “jungle green” dial is the star of the show. Made by Comblemine, Kari Voutilainen’s dial manufacture, it shows a unique horizontal pattern in the centre, harmoniously playing with the three characteristic horizontal bridges of the Gravity Equal Force. The openworked hands are polished steel and the dial also integrated a small seconds indication.

The Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force Jungle Green will be released in a limited edition of 15 pieces and will be available from March 2022. Price will be EUR 24,300 (incl. taxes), CHF 22,900 (excl. taxes) or USD 22,900 (excl. taxes). For more details and online orders, please visit arminstrom.com.