By Carl Scutt
Armin Strom is a young Swiss watch maker based out of Biel, Bienne much like a number of larger, older, better known brands I could mention. They are known for production of skeleton and tourbillion Watches with more than 8 days of power reserve, founder Mr Armin Strom brought the brand a long long way from opening the first specialist Watch shop in 1967, managing to find an unsurpassed place in the Guinness book of records for the creation of the smallest hand-skeletonised watch in 1991.
If this isn’t enough to impress the hard core watch enthusiasts out there, Armin Strom is also one of the few remaining watchmakers to manufacture their own movements from raw material to end product since 2009. That’s got to count for something, right?
So, What’s In A Name?
The idea behind the Manual Hunt Slonem Edition was born from the now owner of Armin Strom , Serge Michel’s love of art, in particular the work of American Hunt Slonem, known for producing highly original works of art.
This collaboration resulted in the creation of a timepiece representing a fusion of creative art and mechanical craftsmanship. Now Armin Strom can be proud to combine the prestigious signature of an internationally renowned artist with the style of this Swiss watch manufacturer.
Armin Strom Manual Hunt Slonem Edition
So what are we getting for our money with this unique offering from this partnership between artist and craftsman? There are a couple of things you will want to know about this piece that stand out to make it truly unique.
When you look close you will see this particular piece has sophisticated hand engraved decoration on the plate and bridges, with the dial side serving as a platform for Hunt Slonem’s contemporary artwork.
The detail is breathtaking and the colors warm and inviting to the eye as the wearer focuses in on the bejewelled and decorated movement. The mixing of precision watch making and art production has produced offspring of exquisite beauty and refinement that only comes through the mixing of dissimilar genes, in this case a precision engineer and an artist.
The case is a 43mm titanium housing the manually wound AMW11 calibre with off-centre time display and small seconds sub dial complete with a 5 day power-reserve, but there’s more.
The technical stuff looks like this.
The Manual Hunt Slonem Edition For Only Watch comes in a Titanium 43.40mm diameter case topped with Sapphire crystal offering water resistance to 50m, and case back with anti-reflective treatment.
The calibre is the Armin Strom AMW11 manual winding, 5 day power reserve with small seconds, off centre time indicator with 20 jewels working at a frequency of 18,000 A/h, consisting of 112 components, including impulse of single going barrel and regulating system is a screwed balance with Breguet overcoil. Features are hour, minute, small seconds.
The piece is finished off with a bracelet a genuine black alligator horn-back strap and titanium ardillon buckle as well as an additional black rubber strap.
So What’s The Cost?
The estimated cost to purchase this thoroughly unique piece
CHF 10,500 to 18,500 or €9,500 to 17,000 or $11,000 to 20,000
Value Added
There’s something that you don’t get every time you buy a luxury time piece and that’s a complimentary hand-signed original artwork, which takes up the colours and motifs of the timepiece in a 46 cm x 31 cm format.
The Take Away
There are original pieces and then there are original pieces. For the lucky person who gets to take this home, they are taking home two distinctive works of art and that’s before you include the complimentary art work in a frame.
The new owner gets to go home and tell people they own a unique Armin Strom Watch which in itself is a big deal. Then the second boast is the ownership of a unique Hunt Slonem artwork specially commissioned for this piece, but wait, it doesn’t even stop there….
The new owner has a third piece of artwork signed by the respected artist, and yet further still, there’s one more feel good facture. That’s the knowledge they have purchased a piece from Hunt Slonem and Serge Michel who are proud of contributing to research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy through their collaboration.
