The Armin Strom Pure Resonance was first released over a year ago, however this unique piece is more recent and comes with a bit of a vintage twist.
A mix of traditional watchmaking skills, top quality materials and hand craftsmanship have been used to create this Pure Resonance Vintage.
First seen on the Mirrored Force Resonance, resonance is a sophisticated and demanding horological technique that has seldomly been attempted, let alone mastered; and in this case, has been even more refined by Armin Strom.
The concept of Pure Resonance is simplicity and by making it even simpler, it is by default, more accurate.
Armin Strom explain in simple terms:
The goal of the Pure Resonance has not changed: to display the interesting resonant balances while improving overall precision. The reason for this watch’s improved chronometry can be found in the straightforward approach to the movement: the fewer functions a timepiece must perform, the better it can concentrate on accuracy. In other words, with no superfluous functions this watch can focus fully on precisely providing the time.
Armin Strom Pure Resonance Vintage
Face & case
The case is 18K white gold and the glass is sapphire crystal. The bezel appears smaller than many Armin Strom watches and the usual area for personalisation (usually with initials) with initials is present at 6 o’clock.
As with the other Pure Resonance watches, the case is 42mm, with a very familiar layout, however the look and feel of this unique piece is very different.
The main familiarity being the aesthetically pleasing layout, almost perfectly symmetrical horizontally; the only difference being the small seconds dial slightly offset between 6 and 7 o’clock. The small seconds dial crosses over into the main time dial, stealing a small section of it as it meets. The main dial is offset to the right, the centre of the hands being in line with the centred crown, but one third of the way across from the right. Both dials are bright white grand feu enamel, with a “chemin de fer” on the outer rim of both. Roman numeral markers indicate the time on the main dial, with modern figures in multiples of 10 to 60 on the seconds dial. The hands are stainless steel – the large dial having dagger shaped hands, whilst the smaller seconds dial having a delicate straight hand.
On the left hand side of the face, the two resonant regulators dance perfectly in unison at 8 and 10 o’clock and the resonance clutch spring is also clearly visible between them.
Behind all this, there is a contrast of gold and silver colours visible on the plates. A matt gold finish can be seen shimmering through on either side (to the left and right) of polished steel curved bridge plates at 12 and 6 o’clock, which have been intricately hand engraved with floral swirls, reminiscent of the era the watch was inspired by.
The case back appears more robust than the delicate front, with multiple embossed stamps around the circumference, holding onto a sapphire crystal window, showcasing that of the innards that the designer has chosen to be made visible.
Silver, gold and symmetry are also a theme on the reverse, however, this time symmetry is across the verticle axis, with 3 main steel cogs are visible and positioned in such a way that it is pleasing to the eye. 2 large, 6 spoked cog wheels are located one at the top and the other at the bottom, 1 smaller solid one at the left and where the 4th would be, on the right is a round plaque with the words “Number 01/01 Unique Piece” lightly engraved. More intricate hand engravings surround the visible areas of the movement, this time on the gold plated plates.
A good size, but quite close to the case, the crown is ridged for grip. The Armin Strom logo is stamped into the end.
Armin Strom Pure Resonance Vintage Case Back
Movement
The movement is a dual-regulator, manual winding Caliber (ARF16) made in-house, with 206 parts and 38 jewels, beating at a frequency of 25,200 hertz.
The 2 regulators work in unison, the bottom provides timekeeping and the top provides resonance.
Expect up to 48 hours of power reserve once fully wound.
Armin Strom Pure Resonance Vintage Crown
Strap
The strap on this Pure Resonance Vintage piece is black alligator leather with black stitching. The buckle is a standard pin buckle with the Armin Strom logo stamped into the area above where the pin rests when closed; this area protrudes further than the rest of the buckle and adds a bit of flair to a standard straight buckle.
A second rubber strap is usually supplied with the Pure Resonance and Armin Strom usually offer a choice of colour.
Armin Strom Pure Resonance Vintage Strap and Buckle
Other stuff
The Pure Resonance is a slightly smaller and simplified version of the Mirrored Force Resonance. The original idea of the Mirrored Force, was to create an innovative way of improving the precision and accuracy of timekeeping.
In order to display 2 sets of seconds, Armin Strom had choice other than to create a suitable clutch spring itself – the resonance clutch spring is made from steel and took 3 years to perfect the shape and characteristics of the spring; a unique form which connects the two sets of oscillators, each comprising twin balance wheels and balance springs. The two balances find a concurrent rhythm in opposite directions, which continuously averages out any errors for maximum accuracy.
Armin Strom Pure Resonance Vintage on the Wrist
Our verdict
The Pure Resonance Vintage is definitely an elegant looking piece and it is confident about how beautiful it is.
It is not in the style of a piece I would usually go for, however I really enjoyed having it on my wrist and the more I look at it, the more I appreciate it’s beauty. It is well weighted, having my preferred choice of both case size and at only 12mm thick, not too deep either.
I think this particular piece would be an occasion or dress piece, similar to the vintage pocket watches that the beautiful engravings clearly take inspiration from.
Unlike the vintage pocket watch in my collection though (that I am yet to wear), I am sure I would be showing this one off as often as I could.
This unique piece is priced at 79,000 CHF and looking at the man hours that have gone into creating, it certainly seems good value for money to me.
Armin Strom offer their customers the opportunity to personalise, so should you wish to come up with your own design for a unique piece, I’m sure they would oblige.
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