Armin Strom unveils Gravity Equal Force Ultimate Sapphire Blue with a 25-piece annual production cap

Founded in 1967 by master skeletonizer Armin Strom, the Biel-based independent has spent decades turning its movements into the main visual attraction. After a management hand-over to Serge Michel and Claude Greisler in 2009, the company became a true manufacture, developing in-house calibres such as the Equal Force barrel that now defines its System 78 line. This background helps frame the brand’s latest release, if you're a reader meeting Armin Strom for the first time.

The new Gravity Equal Force Ultimate Sapphire Blue joins System 78 with a cooler, glacier-toned spin on the open-dial architecture. A 41 mm stainless-steel case houses a transparent sapphire dial plate that reveals three horizontal finger bridges and the gear train beneath. Overall height is 12.65 mm, lug-to-lug length 48.09 mm, and water resistance stands at 3 ATM.

Every component of the watch is hand-finished in Biel. The mainplate is PVD-coated in glacial blue and guilloché-engraved by independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. Rhodium-plated, facetted hands filled with Super-LumiNova are present for the sake of legibility, while a blue nubuck leather strap with ice-blue stitching secures the watch via a stainless-steel folding clasp.

Power comes from the in-house automatic calibre ASB19. The micro-rotor winds a patented Equal Force barrel that uses stop-work declutching (a mechanism designed to improve the consistency of torque delivered from the mainspring to the movement) to keep torque constant during the full 72-hour power reserve. Running at 25,200 vph, the 202-part, 28-jewel movement is assembled twice - once for mechanics, again for decoration - to meet the brand’s finishing standards.

The watch's production is limited to 25 examples per year. The Ultimate Sapphire Blue is available now from Armin Strom and authorised retailers at a list price of CHF 27,500, which roughly translates to $34,413.

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