By Dhananjay Pathak
SIHH has been in existence for 27 years now, and it is certainly interesting and noteworthy as to how this rather boutique and private experience of showcasing fine watchmaking has grown through all these years. Starting with just 5 exhibitors in 1991 SIHH has grown slowly but steadily, adding more names to their catalogue of participating brands making the count reach 35 this year. One of the brands that made its debut in SIHH 2018 is Armin Strom and today we would be taking a look at their latest release the new Armin Strom Pure Resonance. With this watch, the brand is surprisingly showcasing their softer side by staying true to their design ethos, but at the same time presenting them in a much more refined package.
Armin Strom is a brand that specializes in producing bold looking watches with skeletonized dials exhibiting their nicely decorated and technically capable movements. When the brand introduced the Armin Strom mirrored force resonance watch, their main focus was to create a highly accurate timepiece through the use of dual resonating balance wheels, which can also be seen in action through the skeletonized dial. The Armin Strom Pure resonance keeps the essence of this concept intact but represents it in a more classical manner. Gone are the highly worked bridges of the movement and what you have here instead are these plain bridges decorated with vertical Geneva stripes giving the watch a hint of sophistication. The stripped-down approach continues further with the removal of one of the sub-dials for small seconds and there is now just one subsidiary seconds dial at 6 which has been nicely executed and comprises of fine concentric circular graining giving it some visual dynamism. The classical influence can be seen on the main dial in the form of the finely printed Roman numeral hour markers and the railroad style minute track. There are 2 dial colors to choose from, a beautiful blue sunburst dial, or a nice looking charcoal gray. Irrespective of which one to choose, either one of them provides a great contrast to the movement and are highly legible.
Looking at what they offer, Armin Strom watches normally come with large sized cases, but this time around the brand seems to be focusing a little more on wear ability and comfort as well and have kept the case of the Armin Strom Pure resonance down to a more wearable 42mm in diameter and 12mm in thickness. The case is rated to a water resistance of 50 meters which is apt for a watch of this type.
Further to this, the cleaner look of this watch is not only restricted to the exterior of the watch but also applies to its mechanical internals. The hand wound calibre ARF16 that powers this watch, is a stripped down version of the calibre ARF15 and is devoid of the twin seconds flyback mechanism which is an integral part of the latter. This is in sync with the brand’s design philosophy behind this watch that fewer functions on a watch help in making it perform more accurately and efficiently. The movement operates at a frequency of 25200 bph and offers a power reserve of 48 hours.
Though I would not exactly call the Armin Strom Pure Resonance a dress watch, but I can say for sure that this brand has been able to achieve the aesthetic they were after, and this is the most elegant offering from them as yet. The watch would come fitted on a black alligator strap and would retail at a price of 62000 CHF in rose gold, and 49000 CHF in steel. arminstrom.com
