Re-Imagining the Date Function with the New Armin Strom Orbit (Video, Live Pics & Price)

One of the reasons why independent watchmakers have been on the rise over the past years is that they practice their craft guided by passion and personal perspectives. Their creations are highly personal, technical, creative and innovative. Armin Strom has made a name for itself with its commitment to openworked watches and its capacity to innovate, illustrated by its work on resonance. The latest creation, the Armin Strom Orbit, once again demonstrates the brand’s skills, with a spectacular and unprecedented staging of the date mechanism. From a style perspective, the Orbit is unmistakably Armin Strom, yet it comes with a new sporty/elegant twist, being one of the brand’s first watches to be fitted with a metal bracelet.

Armin Strom is known for exposing its mechanisms and their intricacies in a highly original way. This is particularly true with the System 78 collection, with which the brand imagines innovative creations. The latest model from this collection, the Orbit, is based on the Gravity Equal Force and features an entirely revisited and redesigned date mechanism with an architecture that plays with contrasts and volume. More than that, its functionality is reimagined with a cool on/off function and is driven by a highly complex mechanism.

As Claude Greisler, Co-Founder and Master Watchmaker at Armin Strom, explains: “We wanted to create a new type of date display and function that looks good and reimagines a popular complication. No one had ever created a watch displaying the date with an on/off function of this kind on the bezel. I love it because it’s a fun, exciting way to play with the date indication.”

The innovative and playful mechanism consists of a pointer date driven by a column-wheel command (just like in a chronograph), hence its name “column-wheel date“. Thanks to a mechanical memory, by pressing the pusher on the left side of the case, the central pointer date hand with a red A-shaped tip points to the correct date on the ceramic bezel engraved with the date (1 to 31). With another push, the hand returns to its neutral date position. The retrograde date mechanism allows the date hand to jump back from 31 to 1 to avoid any confusion with the neutral date position.

The date setting can be performed via the crown moving time forward. If you have not worn your watch for a while, a date corrector is also integrated into the case band that allows for rapid correction of the date.

Entirely developed and manufactured in-house, the new automatic calibre ASS20 is based on the brand’s Gravity Equal Force concept that drives the watch’s regulating organ with consistent power to ensure a regular rate. To do so, it is fitted with a special Geneva stop-work adapted to an automatic movement. To avoid low torque, the first turns of the barrel are therefore not used. In addition, this new “Declutch stop-work” allows the mainspring to slip in the barrel.

The movement also features the Gravity Equal Force distinctive architecture combining an off-centred black gold dial with hours, minutes and small seconds indication. Three straight openworked bridges, which are also coated in black gold, are visible on the right side, holding the barrel, micro-rotor and winding mechanism in place.

The attention dedicated to the finishing is visible throughout with chamfered and polished edges, polished chatons and perlage graining. The hands are also manufactured in-house or painted by hand at Armin Strom, in the case of the red tip of the pointer date hand.

The innovative movement is housed in a rather large 43.4mm round case. Its black ceramic bezel and integrated steel bracelet make its allure slightly sportier than the other Armin Strom models. The H-shape bracelet stands out with elongated links and its angled centre link that creates beautiful plays of light.

Availability & Price

The Armin Strom Orbit First Edition is released in a limited run of 25 watches. It comes with a 10-year warranty – twice as long as Armin Strom’s standard warranty. The price is set at EUR 31,300.

For more information, please visit arminstrom.com.