ARMIN STROM
CLEARLY
RESONATES
The innovative independent wraps
a clear sapphire case around its
Dual Time Resonance.
BY MICHAEL THOMPSON
The back of the ARF17 caliber.
ARF17 caliber.
78 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SUMMER 2019
ARMIN STROM REALLY WANTS THE WORLD TO HAVE A
CLEAR VIEW OF ITS INNOVATIVE CALIBER 17 ARF, THE
OVAL-SHAPED MOVEMENT POWERING ITS DUAL TIME
RESONANCE WRISTWATCH. BY WRAPPING THE DUAL-
TIMER IN A CLEAR SAPPHIRE CASE, ARMIN STROM
NOW ALLOWS AN UNRESTRICTED LOOK INTO ALL THE
SPECIALIZED COMPONENTS THAT MADE THE WATCH ONE
OF LAST YEAR’S MOST INTERESTING TECHNICAL DEBUTS.
SET IN A BROAD 59MM X 43.4MM OVAL CASE, the Dual Time Resonance
Sapphire offers a clear look into two independent movements in resonance.
The keystone to the whole operation is the Armin Strom Resonance Clutch
Spring, a tuning-fork-shaped metallic spring first seen in the 2016 Armin
Strom Mirrored Force Resonance. Set between the two oscillators at the top
of the dial, the Clutch Spring synchronizes the two movements as they keep
time for the two blue guilloche dials placed horizontally across the case.
Resonance, a technically difficult and hard to regulate technique used
by only a few other watchmakers, essentially means the two movements
become synchronized as they operate. This creates a highly stable
timekeeping rate that heightens the watch’s overall precision. When two
movements resonate, overall operating efficiency improves while the
potential of shock-inflicted error diminishes.
Indeed, Armin Strom say that its own laboratory testing has revealed gains
in precision of 15-20% for two COSC chronometer-level regulated movements
placed in resonance.
By spreading apart the two independent movements on the dial (and
not stacking them vertically as they were in the Mirror Force Resonance)
Armin Strom allows the wearer to utilize either dial to indicate GMT, a second
time zone or to use as a timer. As with earlier iterations of the watch, the
sapphire-cased model retains power reserve indicators on each of the dials
and a 24-hour indication at 6 o’clock.
Armin Strom says that its Resonant Clutch Spring can take up to ten
minutes to synchronize the two movements. To further back its claims
regarding the technology, the CSEM (Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de
Microtechnique) has officially certified Armin Strom’s resonance system
based on the clutch spring as being a true system in resonance.