A Closer Look At Armin Strom’s World’s-First Orbit Watch

Updated July 17, 2022

By Nancy Olson

Just following publication of this review of the Armin Strom Orbit, the brand announced its newest version — now in black. The new Manufacture Edition is not a limited edition, as is the original. Read on. . . 

The date is a fairly straightforward complication on a watch—unless it’s in the hands of Armin Strom, whose recently released Orbit puts a new spin on this familiar and useful function. The date is read off of the ring on the bezel. A world’s first, the new Orbit watch also represents the brands’ first sports-style watch. It features a stationary black ceramic bezel with the days of the month, 01 to 31, in white on its circumference. A large central hand with a bold red “A” (for Armin) points to the current day when the watch is in the “active mode.” When in the “stationary mode,” it remains in a fixed position pointing to 12 o’clock.

 

The date is set via a corrector at 8 o’clock, and the central hand is activated via a pusher on the case at 10 o’clock. Push it once and the hand points to the current date; push a second time and the hand returns to 12 o’clock—yet the correct date is “remembered” when switching from stationary to active mode. If the watch is left in active mode, the day will automatically advance at midnight and will jump back to 01 when it reaches 31 via the retrograde mechanism.

“We wanted to create a new type of date display and function that looks good and reimagines a popular complication,” said Armin Strom Co-Founder and Master Watchmaker Claude Greisler. “No one had ever created a watch displaying the date with an on/off function of this kind on the bezel. I love it because it’s a fun, exciting way to play with the date function.”

 

A Journey Around Armin Strom’ Orbit – First Edition

The Orbit is part of the System 78 collection, and it is limited to just 25 pieces, each priced at $29,500. System 78 is based on “a desire to offer haute horlogerie in its purest form by revisiting some of watchmaking’s core functions in innovative and novel ways,” according to the brand. Other watches within the collection include Lady Beat, Gravity Equal Force and Tribute 1.

The manufacture movement, Caliber ASS20, features a microrotor and a Geneva-drive equal force barrel, an offset time display with subdial seconds, and a column wheel-driven retrograde date conceived, developed and built by Armin Strom at its Biel/Bienne-based atelier. The 30-jewel, 273-component movement beats at a frequency of 25,200 vph and measures 35.52mm x 8.42mm. Its meticulously hand-finished decoration is visible via the sapphire crystal caseback.

 

The black offset dial has Super-Luminova-filled Arabic numerals and indexes, and the hand-finished steel hour and minute hands, crafted by Armin Strom, are also filled with Super-Luminova. The touch of red—on the central pointer and on the word “DATE” at 12 o’clock on the bezel—draws the eye in and adds further interest to the otherwise neutral face.

 

The Orbit’s 43.4mm case, water resistant to 5 ATM, is crafted from stainless steel. The stainless steel integrated bracelet represents the first time Armin Strom has employed a metal bracelet on one of its timepieces, adding another note of approachable sportiness heretofore not seen from Armin Strom. The watch retails for $29,500.