We Investigate the Workshop of Watchmaker Armin Strom
written by A.Morgan - 17th Oct 2011
Biel/Bienne, the bi-lingual Swiss town, is the birthplace of every Rolex and Omega watch you will ever see (well, pretty much all of them) and is the spiritual home of the Swiss timepiece industry. Nestled away in some very green looking hills (as most of Switzerland is) it seems too idyllic and peaceful to be such hallowed horological ground.
Drive along Bözingenstrasse and nestling halfway up the hill you will see the hallowed golden crown of Rolex, but drive a little further on – and be careful, you might miss it – and you’ll come across a neat and tidy white building, upon which, in delicate script, is written, ‘Armin Strom.’
Now, you can be forgiven for having not heard of Armin Strom before – I certainly hadn’t until a friend told me about them – but that’s alright. For half a decade they have been working, building a brand and creating a product worthy of the historical town in which it is being built. Only now have they begun to show to world what they can do, and believe me, it’s impressive.
A bit of background; Armin Strom – the person – is a watchmaker with some serious credentials. His speciality is skeletonisation, a technique that involves reducing the solid plates and bridges of a movement to the barest minimum amount of material to create an intricate and complicated three-dimensional structure. His work has been commissioned for unique pieces by many brands, including Omega, and has to be seen to be believed. He must have the patience of a whole cloud full of saints.
Downstairs, skilled operators program the CNC machines to mill billet materials into components...
With the help of CEO Serge Michel and Head of Development Claude Greisler, Strom started his own company making watches with skeletonised ETA movements. They then progressed to creating new modules for the ETA movements, and now they have their own in-house movement, complete with a hi-tech workshop to make it in.
The building is quite unassuming from the outside, a quaint, traditional affair with a hint of the contemporary, but step inside and the true nature of the business starts to be revealed. It comes as no surprise that Armin Strom’s first major marketing venture is within the Formula One industry as official timekeeper for the Marussia Virgin Racing team; their workshop would be better described as a facility, a clean, modern unit that could be home to any Formula One team.
...which are then finished by hand to meet tolerance
Work begins in Greisler’s office in the virtual world of Autodesk Inventor. All, and I mean all, the design and development is done in-house. Cases and dials are made externally, and given the huge costs required to buy the five-way CNC machines required to make them, it makes perfect sense, especially as only a thousand watches are made per year. All the parts are designed in three dimensions and each one gets its own technical drawing for manufacture.
Downstairs is the ‘engine room,’ full of clean, complex machinery, all operated by workers wearing immaculate white lab coats in an environment that is as clean and tidy as an operating theatre. Here, different types of CNC machines cut and drill the various movement parts straight from the computer modelling software. Now, to you and I, CNC machining is as accurate as you could ever need, but not to Armin Strom. Each piece is checked for tolerances of around a few thousandths of a millimetre, and the final machining is done by hand to ensure perfection. The whole process is overseen by the workshop chief, who also programmes the CNC machines and liaises with Greisler to ensure the designs are efficient to make.
The ARM09 movement is completely in-house...
For the Armin Racing range, Marussia Virgin Racing donated an engine block from Timo Glock’s 2010 Formula One car to use for movement parts. Given the secretive, complex and expensive nature of Formula One materials, it proved to be a monumental headache to get the block melted down and the pieces machined from it, but they managed it. It’s a subtle but nice feature, especially compared to other sports collaborations that I’ve seen elsewhere.
The next step is the finishing and decoration of the movement components. There are two brand directions under Armin Strom’s name; Armin Strom, which feature more classically styled watches, including the skeletonised work that Strom does himself, and the Armin by Armin Strom range, which are more contemporary and feature the exquisite in-house movements.
Strom’s workshop, where he does his skeletonising, is like stepping back in time and is a complete change from the modernity of the rest of the building. All his work is done completely by hand, and the rows and rows of different tools ordered neatly along his workbench confirm this. Skeletonising the movement takes a week, and engraving it another; it’s no wonder that Strom’s talents have been so sought-after throughout his career.
The company takes decoration very seriously, and the non-skeletonised movements receive the same amount of attention to detail as the skeletonised ones. A handful of extremely talented young watchmakers polish, engrave and bevel everything by hand. Even the perlage, usually done by a computer-guided machine, is done by hand, one circle at a time. The only part that has any computer assistance is the curved Geneva stripes done on the main plate.
...and each one is painstakingly finished by hand
Armin Strom likes to base its models on the four elements, earth, wind, fire and water. Each model that falls into this range is labelled as such, and comes with a limited number. The theme is taken further on the balance wheel bridge, with each theme receiving its own engraving – mountains, waves, clouds and flames. Every movement receives a week’s worth of attention.
Once decorated, the components require plating, be it rhodium, gold or PVD. Greisler used to send off the pieces to a plating company to do the work, but inconsistent delivery, coating thicknesses and quality drove him to purchasing what is perhaps the only small scale plating lab in Switzerland. Completely custom built, it was originally made for watch school students to learn with, but when it came up for sale Armin Strom snapped it up.
Armin Strom are one of the only small manufacturers to have their own plating equipment in-house
Walking into the plating room reminds me of my school days walking into the science labs; a faint acrid, chemical smell lingers in the air, and the wires, lights and screens cry out to be pushed, pulled and prodded.. Greisler explains that it has simplified the manufacturing process considerably, and that the consistent thickness of the coating makes for a better fit and less wastage. The coating thickness is factored in at the design stage, and having it within his control relives him of one massive headache.
The final stage, assembly, is undertaken in a large room at the rear of the building. Greisler tells us, as the afternoon sun spills in through the large windows, that the decorators and assemblers occasionally rotate roles to ensure that they fully understand the journey of the watch, and to keep their enthusiasm piqued. The dedication to traditional watchmaking (albeit in a modern setting) is admirable; they even have a young watchmaker going through watch school working a few days a week with them to help pass on the skills to future generations. She explains to us that she was learning how to make screws by hand – I had to take her word for it as they were so small, I wasn’t even sure if I could see them.
The team of watchmakers take turns in assembling and finishing to give them a well-rounded skillset
The completed movements await their cases for final assembly and testing, and then the watch is complete. From raw materials to finished piece, every step has been carried out with an attention to detail and a level of care that rivals brands whose watches cost twice, three times the price. You may not know who Armin Strom are today, but I don’t think it’s going to stay that way for much longer.
Just in: Having successfully put together a brand that represents his values as one of the most talented watchmakers in history, Mr Strom has now retired at the age of 73. He will continue to work with the company on an advisory basis.
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A.Morgan
This is your chance to win a piece of the engine from Timo Glock’s Marussia Virgin Racing F1 car, as used by Armin Strom in their Armin Racing watches. As official timekeepers to the Marussia Virgin Racing team, Armin Strom managed to procure an engine block which could be melted down for component parts of the Armin Racing range. This proved much more difficult than anticipated because of the complex and highly secret alloys used by F1 teams that turned out to be incredibly difficult to machine!
All you have to do for the chance to win is to discuss this article – you have until November the 18th to enter.
Good luck!
Marko
This is a terrific insight into the workings of one of the leading exponents in the precision watchmaking industries. Hand-made screws that you can hardly see left me wondering in amazement!
Shutts
Attention to detail is breathtaking.
Siobhan brennan
Amazing insight inti watch production. Beautiful work. Want one now!
Jodi
I have been to Biel! Further, I loved reading about the background of Armin Strom – a gentleman that I was previously unfamiliar with….
Jo Carroll
A very good article. Strange that Armin Strom melt down the F1 components. Maybe easier to machine from a standardised block size but I think it would have been more interesting to machine them from the ‘raw’ F1 part. The art work would look good alongside my other motorsport memorabilia!
Ben Donnelly
Must confess I’d never heard of this watch brand before but would be great to have an opportunity to see one close up. Sound like a real engineering marvel!
Andy Milton
An interesting article on a watch maker I was not previously aware of, the style and engineering look excellent. Melting down of an F1 part, means the qualities of that item are now different, but pleased to see that F1 are doing their bit for recycling. Are they plans to use other components from the F1 car in other watches, carbon fibre from the panels or rubber from the tyres as these are materials used in other watch manufacturers products?
A.Morgan
@Andy Milton
The melting was done with the Marussia Virgin Racing team and even then it was a very tricky process because of the materials used in the alloy that still remain secret!
A good question – perhaps one I can put to Armin Strom. There are quite a few barge boards, end fences and other bits and pieces of F1 car lying around the workshop at Armin Strom, so perhaps they are!
Mark Lewis
I can’t believe that there have been no comments about the new look watchfinder website. As a Watchfinder customer for nearly 10 years, I have mapped your companies progress with a great deal of interest, and being an internet based business I have first hand watched both the site and business evolve from a start-up into a recognised (watchlover’s) brand. You havent quite caught up with Apple and Coca-Cola but keep going. The new site is a leap forward blending well written articles such as this, with the latest watch releases and of course your new arrivals which I surf through each time they are announced. This site adds excellent photography, clean and clear subject matter and articles that add some sunshine into my otherwise grey day. Well done WF&Co.
mario
sounds very interesting using the f1 engine block would like to see a finished unit, as a lot of work and detail is put into it, can it hold its own against a tag or omega, or would be more of a panerai or Iwc. the precision sounds second to none time will tell.(sorry for that).
Geoff Harris
It’s great that in this day and age there are still people with the time and desire to put so much detail into a product.
A.Morgan
@Mario
I would say Armin Strom are towards the top end of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s offerings.
NeilB
An interesting article, but UK availability and prices would have been a useful addition. The photographs are excellent, highlighting the painstaking detailed work involved.
Intred
Very interesting article, the amount of details in this watch is amazing. I really like the recycling aspect of this business and i do believe it creates extra value to the watch.
Richard
Very interesting article with excellent photography. I liked the range of images available as a slide show as opposed to trying to pack them all in to the article itself.
As a busy executive, I found the length of the article initially daunting so would have preferred to have a ‘condensed’ version as well as the more detailed alternative. I would also suggest an e-mail link so that I could e-mail it to myself to read later as time permitted.
Very professional web-site – great look and feel…
ST
Beautifully crafted and I’m sure they’re created with absolute passion, but I just didn’t get that same sense of passion from this article. Just like some of the photos it all seemed so clinical, clean and precise.
Bring some passion and help inspire a love affair into the dialogue. Dare I say…. take a look at the A.Lange & Sohne wesbite as an example of what I mean about describing what they do and how they do it… I was hooked.
A.Morgan
@ST
It’s interesting you should say that because that is exactly how their workshop came across… clinical. That’s not to say there was no passion, there was; but the whole process was done in a very serious and formulaic way. It’s more than just marketing, Armin Strom’s affinity with F1; their development and manufacturing methods and techniques share a lot a common, and that includes the clean and clinical approach to watchmaking.
Armin Strom AG
@Andy Milton
We will certainly continue to follow up the concept of using F1 car components for our special collection. Nevertheless we would like to keep secret the details about which components and in what way they will be used in order to keep the surprise effect.
Dave
They certainly werent ‘racing’ to finish the watch, so perhaps F1 should complain…
Rob Boulton
With such unimaginable accuracy, an amazing mixture of manual and hi-tec skills and cutting edge skeletonisation art maybe we are witnessing the emergence of the new top marque!
W Parker
Incredible!
The technical composites of the highest echelons of Virgin Formula 1 finesse, combined with the sheer beauty and detail of Armin Strom have resulted in a masterpiece.
A must have watch!
Rob Helps
Oh – to have the skill, dedication and opportunity to create such masterpieces in miniature. I will always be amazed at the ability of these artisans and long for the day when I can swap my TAG 962.006R for something really special. Chapeau, M. Strom
Travis
WOW! I want one of these watches now, will definitely be keeping an eye out for a nice pre-owned one with F1 engine parts being a huge F1 fan.
SASH
Good watches, I must say that I don’t hear much about this watch company. Very interesting to know something more from it and I can say good article. More and more watchmakers put materials from F1, ships (Romain Jerome), …..
Gabriel_BB
I love that Armin Strom has so much passion for creation of watches. Also the attention for using unique materials in watch industry is something that will last in time, and will get value in future.
Sidrah
Wow! It seems that the Swiss has an unprecedented class of his own with such quintessential manufacturing, it is absolutely remarkable. I certainly hope to visit Switzerland and treat myself to one of the finest watches in the world.
Rajesh Gupta
This is just a piece of art on your wrist. Money comes , money goes, but this is kept forever. You cannot put a pirce on quality. The art of a man is kept in his time. so to have a watch like this on your wrist, says it all.
Although style cannot be bought, this will be as close as humans can get to buying style. Truly a remarkable piece of history on your wrist.
Philip
The construction and mechanism of these watches are truly outstanding, beyond its class. A very well descriptive article shows the passion, precision, effort & time which has gone into making a true collector’s item.
PaulK
As a “watchhead” as opposed to a “petrolhead” I still appreciate the ingenuity of taking an alloy from a F1 car’s engine and then creating micro-engineering within a watch; and with such style.
A.Morgan
Thank you all for entering – the competition has now closed and we will be announcing a winner shortly.
A.Morgan
Congratulations to Jo Carroll, the winner of this great prize!