It seems like those of us who made it to Baselworld this year just can’t get enough of the Armin Strom One Week Skeleton. I briefly wrote about it in my “Top 20 Watches from Baselworld” post a few weeks back. Then just last week, we got to see two hands-on reviews on Escapement and Monochrome, some of the most prominent watch blogs out there. So what’s all the fuss about?
Armin Strom is not a brand I’ve paid much attention to in the past, perhaps wrongfully so. The man himself had built a reputation for doing some of the most exquisite skeleton work of the time and his eponymous brand, and later worked on skeletonizing movements for other brands such as Omega. Armin Strom was even in The Guinness Book of World Records for creating the smallest watch ever to be skeletonized by hand. Fast-forward to 2009, Armin Strom moves to its new manufacture in the Swiss town of Biel/Bienne and comes out with its first in-house movement, the ARM09.
Armin Strom officially retired in 2011, leaving behind a wealth of knowledge and a manufacture. No doubt feeling a great sense fulfillment having taken his once one-man brand into a full-fledged manufacture of the 21st century, that would carry his name on into the future, one thing remained unaccomplished for the Armin Strom brand, and that was creating a true skeleton watch with an in-house movement.
In essence, the Armin Strom One Week Skeleton is an open-worked rendition of the brand’s One Week models, the brand’s first in-house movement fitted watches. At the same time, it’s so much more. The One Week’s ARM09 movements are already inciting enough, yet somehow when skeletonized you really get to appreciate it’s unique architecture.
The case is Armin Strom’s usual round case measuring 43.40mm wide, done here in polished rose gold though the press release indicates there are also yellow and white gold versions. I’m still not sure how I feel about the “lip” at 6 o’clock. While it certainly makes the Armin Strom case distinguishable from other round cases, I think the case could have done without it. There’s already so much going on with the movement. But that’s just me.
The dial, little of it there is, is a sapphire ring set atop the movements, with applied baton hour markers and minutes markings. This adds considerable depth to an already very three-dimensional and captivating movement architecture.
At 9 o’clock you have the small seconds hand, as well as a very discreet red-tipped power reserve indicator hand reading off a colored arc cleverly integrated into the movement’s bridge. I like how the power reserve indicator is there if you’re looking for it, otherwise blending into the rest of the watch.
Like all recent Armin Strom pieces, the central hours and minutes hands are slightly off-centered, with enough luminous material to make them legible anytime, anywhere. Compared to other more classically styled skeleton watches where the hands are either too thin or skeletonized, this one’s a breeze to read.
From any angle you look at it, it’s easy to appreciate the meticulous hand-decoration that goes in the One Week Skeleton. Where I think this watch’s charm lies is in the hand-engraving and decoration of the bridges. It’s easy to spot out engravings that are stamped or laser-etched in comparison to traditionally done hand-engraved patterns, as is the case here. I’m normally not the biggest fan of elaborate engraving patterns on skeleton watches, but somehow on the One Week Skeleton, with its unusual movement construction and slate-grey surface treatment, it works. I can honestly say this was the best looking skeleton I got to handle at Baselworld 2014.
Flip the watch over and the view is just as spectacular. You get a clearer look at my favorite part, the open-worked barrels revealing the mainsprings within. You could pretty much use this as a visual power reserve indicator by observing how tightly the mainspring coils were wound.
The escapement has its own arc-shaped bridge, with the screwed balance’s hairspring done with a Breguet overcoil. The escape wheel and pallet made of solid gold subject to hardening treatments, making them more resistant to wear and tear.
Now, I’m honestly not entirely sure whether Armin Strom just took the basic non-skeleton ARM09 movement and open-worked it by manually by removing non-essential parts, or simply redesigned the movement’s bridges and other components to come out of the CNC and milling machines looking that way. On the brand’s website, it states “It reinterprets tradition with a sparing use of high-tech tools to conceive and skeletonize the movement, combined with highly expert component decorating skills”. Make of that what you will. It could be a combination of both, as you can see when comparing the ARM09-S skeleton movement next to the non-skeleton ARM09 that some of the bridges don’t look anything alike. Regardless, the ARM09-S is a gorgeous movement, and perhaps that’s all that matters.
On the wrist, you’d expect the 43.40mm case to wear on the larger side, but the wider bezel makes the open space look lighter and this fit quite comfortably on the wrist without any awkwardness. What I absolutely love about the Armin Strom One Week Skeleton is that for a proper skeleton watch, it’s not all that see-through. I know I’m not the only one who finds those unsightly wrist hairs pressed against the sapphire crystal a huge turnoff, an effect that unfortunately many modern skeleton watches reproduce.
The Armin Strom One Week Skeleton in rose gold is a limited edition of 50 pieces, with a price tag of approximately $ 49,900 USD.
More information on www.arminstrom.com
