As a younger brand, Armin Strom has been able to develop its formidable success over the years by pioneering timepieces that not only are visually unique, but also push the boundaries of traditional horology. A few days ago, we heard word that the brand was introducing a new model into its Mirrored Force Resonance collection with a little help from living horological rockstar Kari Voutilainen.
If you’re unfamiliar with resonance watches, that’s OK. They’re extremely rare due to the significant difficulties in production that goes into making them. Resonance timepieces generally involve two independent mainsprings, gear trains, escapements, and balances that are connected by a rack and pinion to allow exact tuning of the distance between each of them. When the two oscillators (all of the above combined) are beating in sync, they are able to find a concurrent rhythm in opposite directions that continuously averages out errors. Basically, the two “resonating” balances offer higher accuracy, energy conservation, and overall better stability.
In 2016, Armin Strom developed the world’s first “Mirrored Force Resonance” which works a little differently despite producing what is basically the same effect. The biggest change was the development of what Armin Strom’s Technical Director Claude Greisler coined as the “resonance clutch spring.” It took over two and a half years of development by Greisler’s team and you can actually see (in the image below) how it connects between the two balance springs, forming what you might consider a single, extra-large spring. What the new resonance clutch spring does is basically remove the need for the connecting rack and pinion and amplify how a typical resonance already functions. By connecting the two oscillators and having them running in sync, you have a watch that provides higher accuracy than even a traditional resonance.
So far we’ve seen the first Mirrored Force Resonance in rose gold and a second model in stainless steel. Today, we can announce that the brand has joined forces with Kari Voutilainen to offer the first substantial visual improvement to the brand’s most-complicated timepiece. Each of these stainless steel watches will include a guilloché dial that was hand-turned in Voutilainen’s Môtiers-based workshop. They will be available in several color choices — blue, black, anthracite, red, or bi-color — and in multiple patterns such as sun-ray, concentric waves, or barleycorn.
The Mirrored Force Resonance with a guilloché dial will be available for CHF 59,000, which is only CHF 5,000 more than the original stainless steel Mirrored Force Resonance.
