The Armin Strom Tribute 1 Dress Watch Just Got Dressier In Rose Gold (Live Pics & Price)

It’s surprising to consider that Armin Strom is just thirteen years old (without counting the years it was run by the master of skeletonisation, Mr Armin Strom). Now in the hands of Serge Michel and master watchmaker Claude Greisler, Armin Strom has amassed an impressive portfolio of highly technical watches and consolidated a unique and contemporary design language. Coupled with the brand’s fully integrated manufacturer capable of producing practically all its parts in-house, Armin Strom is a force to be reckoned with on the indie scene. Sitting alongside some of the brand’s heavyweight Haute Horlogerie pieces is the System 78 collection. Home to the Tribute 1 model, the idea is to offer excellent watchmaking content in a contemporary package at an accessible price. In response to demand from collectors, Armin Strom introduces this dressier 18k rose gold version of the Tribute 1 in a limited edition of 100 pieces powered by the impressive in-house movement with its 100-hour power reserve.

System 78

As Serge Michel, co-founder of Armin Strom, pointed out in an interview with MONOCHROME, the reason for creating the System 78 was a response to his frustrations as a young collector: “From a young age, I admired these types of watches but couldn’t afford them: if you don’t have the budget, you don’t have the budget”. With four sub-families – Gravity Equal Force, Lady Beat, Orbit and Tribute 1 – sharing the same platform, the System 78 allows Armin Strom to scale production, share components and keep the prices in check. Offering innovative horological content with impeccable hand finishings and accessible prices, the “System 78” is named after the year – 1978 – in which Greisler and Michel were born.

The Tribute 1, a compact stainless steel 38mm time-only model, made its debut in 2021 in stainless steel with an off-centred handmade grenage dial and exposed motor barrel and bridge. Appearing again with blue, black and even California dials, the Tribute 1 gets dressier this year and comes in an 18k rose gold case.

Modern Dress Watch

The proportions of the Armin Strom Tribute 1 – 38mm diameter x  9.38mm height – are perfectly calibrated for a dress watch. The 18k rose gold case displays alternating brushed and polished surfaces and stands out from conventional dress watches with its crown at 2 o’clock. Other features include the distinctive straight, angular lugs, the thin bezel, and the signature ‘lip’ found at 6 o’clock on Armin Strom watches but in a smaller and more discreet manner.

The characteristic off-centred dial for the hours and minutes of this luxurious Tribute 1 is a black gold (anthracite) colour decorated with a delicate concentric pattern. Rose gold-coated elements to match the case material include the applied hour markers at 12, 2, 8 and 10, the elegant openworked hour and minute hands and the central seconds hand. The dial plate surrounding the barrel and off-centred dial displays a grey granular surface obtained using the grenage technique. This technique involves finely hand-engraved impressions on the solid black gold plate that are then filled with lacquer, polished with diamond paper and hardened.

Intersecting the hour and minute dial is the exposed barrel held in place by the rose gold hand-bevelled openworked finger bridge. Like other Tribute 1 models, the ‘One Hundred Hours of Power Reserve – Manual Winding’ inscription is engraved in relief on the exposed surface of the barrel. As the brand emphasises, all the elements on the dial are manufactured and hand-finished in-house.

Calibre AMW 21

Armin Strom’s manual-winding calibre was designed with compactness and power in mind. With a height of just 4.20mm, this slim movement has an innovative motor barrel with an arbour turning around the mainspring to save space and increase efficiency. The watch delivers a robust 100-hour power reserve and the variable inertia balance wheel, also held in place by a finger bridge, beats at a 3.5Hz frequency. Like all Armin Strom watches, the movement has been assembled twice. The hand-finishings are in line with the rest of the watch, meaning they are traditionally executed but modern.

The three-quarter plate has thick Côtes de Genève with polished bevels; the balance bridge features side graining, anglage, sandblasting and straight graining; the mainplate displays circular graining; the countersinks are polished; and the inscription “1 Out of 100” (like the one on the barrel on the dial) is engraved in positive relief against a matte surface. In keeping with its luxurious dress watch appeal, this Tribute 1 comes on an elegant black alligator strap with a rose gold-coated clasp.

Availability & Price

The Armin Strom Tribute 1 Rose Gold is limited to 100 pieces and retails for CHF 23,900 / EUR 26,500  / USD 23,900  / GBP 25,000.

For more information, please visit arminstrom.com.