Continuing with our coverage of Baselworld 2016, we bring you another novelty from the masters of skeletonization, Armin Strom. The new Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Air is a new watch specially designed to highlight what Armin Strom does best. A small circle of watch manufactures are capable of producing a tourbillon, yet one with this level of skeletonization is a rare bird and a true horological feat in its own. With the Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Air, this manufacture from Biel has taken skeletonization a step further. Ultimately the skeletonizing enhances the movement's mechanical artistry while emphasizing the caliber's layered construction. Along with the constant rotation of the tourbillon, owners will observe the animation of the double going barrel while the watch is wound.
The new Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton timepieces extend the legacy of the brand's founder, Armin Strom, who is renown as a master skeletonizer. The new Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton collection will be produced in the brand's signature elements of Fire —18k rose gold—, Water —stainless steel—, Air —titanium— as presented here and Earth —black PVD coated stainless steel.
The new Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Air, is fitted with a titanium satin brushed case measuring 43.4 mm in diameter and 13 mm in thickness. The dial composed of a transparent sapphire ring with applied markers and white minute track, is designed to proudly display the double-going barrels with their 10-day power reserve and its fully skeletonized look. The watch features a gorgeous tourbillon cage at 9 o'clock that makes a whole turn every 60 seconds and serves as a running seconds indicator. The hands feature applied luminova and at night they glow bright and long. One of the few skeletonized timepieces out there that is easy to read in any type of lighting conditions.
Fitted with a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides, the visibility of the dial is never compromised by unwanted glare. Perhaps the only thing we would've wished for on this watch, was a screw-down crown to not worry about water resistance issues, regardless, Armin Strom states a water resistance of 50 meters for this timepiece. This is the only tourbillon out there that we would dare to take to the pool on a nice summer day. The pull-out crown on the Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Air is easy to grip and very nicely finished with the Armin Strom AS logo. When winding the watch or setting the time, the crown feels very solid and tight. Since this is a 10-day power reserve movement, it will take a while for you to accomplish fully winding the watch. The Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Air is delivered with a grey or white Armin Strom hornback strap with off-white contrast stitching and an additional grey or white rubber strap with double folding clasp in titanium.
The beating heart inside the Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Air is the manual wound in-house calibre ATC11-S composed of 184 parts, 24 jewels and a double going barrel to provide an outstanding power reserve of 10 days while beating at a frequency of 18,000 vph. The exquisitely finished movement is fully skeletonized and visible via the sapphire crystal display case back coated with anti-reflective treatment to make things even better.
On the wrist, the watch wears true to its size and overall extremely sporty and nice. This is the type of watch that not only exudes sportiness but also class at the same time. A tourbillon that can be worn in any type of setting, whether is a day by the pool, a Sunday in your favorite True Religion distressed jeans or to a fancy dinner at Daniel in New York. The Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Air is available in a limited edition of 50 pieces only.
Sticker Price $86,100 USD. For more info on Armin Strom click here.
