The Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Earth is a masterful example of the Armin Strom Atelier’s Haute Horlogerie prowess.  Although resolutely modern in character, this timepiece has been meticulously crafted using traditional watchmaking skills.

By showcasing the mechanisms which make their watches come alive on the wrist,   every Armin Strom timepiece tells the history and legacy of the company’s eponymous founder.   With a fully skeletonised calibre, whose multi-layer architecture invites its wearer to become intimately connected with their watch, the Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Earth model is, from every angle, a supreme example of watchmaking excellence.

The watch carries a rounded 43.40 mm stainless steel case which has been endowed with a stealthy black DLC coating. Located at 6 o’clock, the unmistakeable protruding lip offers the potential for a bespoke, engraved motif.

The contemporary spirit of this piece is immediately evident.  Bereft of a traditional watch dial, the darkened, skeletonised mainplate becomes a window into the heart and soul of the watch.

Immediately one is confronted with the striking panorama of a full exposé of the gear-train bridges and barrel bridges.   A dark PVD coating on the components adds to the drama, while the inclusion of a sapphire dial ring ensures that nothing is obscured.

Despite the compelling view of this complex, three-dimensional composition, the time is still highly legible.  The off-set sapphire dial ring features appliqué hour markers and grey minute markers, while the hours and minutes hands in stainless steel have been given a generous coating of lume. At the 3 o’clock location, a sapphire plate, with visible screws carries the Armin Strom branding.

But, this is not merely a time-telling device it is also a lesson in horological anatomy.  By reducing their ATC-11S calibre to its bare bones, the craftsmen at Armin Strom have revealed its essence.

Whirring in constant motion at the 9 o’clock location, a showcase one-minute Tourbillon incorporating a passing seconds display is a visually compelling feature.  And, when winding the piece, the fully exposed double barrels offer the wearer an uninterrupted view of the winding mechanism.

Turn the piece over, and a new spectacle is revealed.  Bereft of a rotor, the wearer is offered an uninterrupted view of the impeccable craftsmanship of the fully skeletonised Armin Strom Manufacture ATC-11S calibre.  Beating at a leisurely 18,000vph, the movement has an extraordinary ten days of power reserve.

The Armin Strom Tourbillon Skeleton Earth wristwatch wears on a black horn-back alligator leather strap and comes supplied with an additional black rubber strap.