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Armin Strom Resonates With Frosted Green Dial 

Armin Strom expands its Mirrored Force Resonance offerings with a new model sporting a stunning green grenage dial.

The new Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance – Manufacture Edition Green.

Nicely matched with a grey synthetic suede ‘Alcantara’  strap, this limited edition (of fifty pieces) again highlights the independent watchmaker’s unusual resonance-based in-house movement that teams two balance wheels linked to create heightened chronometric precision and consistency.

The key to Armin Strom’s mastery of resonance in a wristwatch 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 on the left side of the dial, the Clutch Spring synchronizes the two movements as they keep time for the offset green dials.

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.

Admin Strom explains that it was inspired to create the new frosted green hue by some vintage equipment at its atelier.

“We chose this green because it harmonizes with the polished and decorated parts of the open-worked movement,” says Armin Strom’s Master Watchmaker and co-founder, Claude Greisler. “And the grenage finish gives a contrast to the polished indexes. This frizzy, kind of frosted surface reflects some light – but it is not too loud. It doesn’t overwhelm your attention and it shouldn’t compete with the movement.”

All the components within the 43mm steel watch are hand-polished. The dial side surfaces are also hand-finished with frosted, perlaged or circular-grained finishes. Armin Strom also assembled its movements twice “to ensure an uncompromising commitment to quality.” 

Price: $63,000. 

Specifications: Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance – Manufacture Edition Green 

(Reference no. ST22-RF.20, limited to 50 pieces.)

Movement: Armin Strom manufacture Caliber ARF21, manual winding, 25,200 vph with two independent regulating systems connected by a resonance clutch spring. Power reserve is 48 hours.

Case: 43mm by 11.55mm steel, sapphire crystal and caseback with anti-reflective treatment, water resistance to 30 meters.

Dial: Green with grenage center and a circular satin-brushed chapter ring and applied polished baton indices. Hands are steel and manufactured by Armin Strom, decorated by hand. Indications: Hours, minutes, twin-seconds. 

Strap: Grey Alcantara strap with white stitching and double folding clasp in stainless steel.

Price: $63,000.

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American Brands

Introducing the LaMotte Balboa Automatic

 

By Gary Girdvainis.

Like so many watch enthusiasts, brothers Jonnie and Jeff LaMotte had a vision to create a watch of their own – and unlike the vast majority of dreamers, the brothers LaMotte have brought their dream to life.

The LaMotte Balboa

Crafted with a less-is-more approach, the Balboa by the California-based LaMotte Watch Company embraces a design that is crisp and clean without excess – anything. 

When you open the (California-sourced) packaging, the LaMotte Balboa is not a shock-watch with a rampant rainbow of colors, nor will you in awe of a massive 50mm case better suited for a desk clock than a watch. What you will see is a right-sized watch with a subtlety that can be underwhelming at first – but grows on you the more closely you look and the more you wear it.

At 39mm the 316L stainless Steel Balboa is easy to wear as the mid-size case rides very nicely on the wrist without reminding you that it’s on your arm every minute of the day. When you do roll your wrist to check the time, the hand-made leather strap leads the eye to the applied numerals standing tall as they rise from the silver circular grained dial.

Like the hands, the numerals are enhanced with X1 Superluminova that glows an electric blue for ease of reading in low light conditions. Both the front and the back have flat sapphire crystals, and each watch is individually pressure tested to 10atm. 

Worth noting is that these watches achieve a 10atm rating without the need for a screw-down crown, thanks in large part to a double gasket system engineered into the stem/crown.

American calibers

Built in partnership with the Arizona-based watchmaking company FTS, the Balboa is also one of the early adopters of the recently released Americhron 7000 series of automatic winding movements. 

Unlike so many other “new” movements, the Americhron 7000 is not a clone of any other movement and is-fact a new design that embraces time-tested engineering in its own unique layout. Beating at 28,800 with a power reserve of just under forty hours, the Americhron has a traditional lever escapement, is anti-magnetic and shock resistant per ISO standards, and comes with a five-year warranty.

Designed to be service-friendly, the Americhron 7000 can be serviced and repaired by any qualified watchmaker that can work on traditional automatic winding movements.

Each LaMotte is individually tested for chronometry and certified as meeting or exceeding factory specifications for accuracy. On top of the five-year warranty on the movement, the LaMotte brothers have also decided to offer an eight-year warranty against manufacturing defect.

Thanks to the monochromatic mien of the Balboa, LaMotte’s first release feels right at home when active, for casual times, or even dressed-up for a night on the town and picks up on whatever couture you put around it – from a Speedo to a tuxedo. 

Limited to only fifty individually numbered watches, the Balboa will retail at $895 and is delivered with two straps and a certification card signed by the watchmaker who built, tested, and certified that particular watch. 

More info at www.lamottewatchco.com 

 

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Featured News

F.P. Journe Opens N.Y Boutique in Soho

Independent watchmaking pioneer F.P.Journe has moved his New York boutique from Manhattan’s Upper East Side to 53 Mercer Street in SoHo.

The new space showcases Journe’s watches in sleek display cases amid small lounges, a bar and a library filled with books on watchmaking.

At the center of the space is a large chandelier created by Mexican-Brazilian artist Carolina Fontoura Alzaga, similar to those in Journe’s boutiques in Los Angeles and Miami.

Upstairs, the new store offers a kitchen, a wine cellar and a large room where the watchmaker plans to host dinners and receptions.

The space’s architects were careful to retain some of the building’s original red brick walls in order to recall the industrial history of the SoHo district.

Details: Maison F.P.Journe New York, 53 Mercer Street, NY, NY 10013, New York.

Phone: (212) 644 5918, [email protected] 

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The Watches

Bulgari Enhances Aluminum Collection 

Bulgari adds three new models to its sporty Aluminum series. 

The popular Bulgari Aluminum collection was an instant hit when it debuted in 1998. Made of rubber and aluminum, a combination not seen among higher-end Swiss watches previously, the watch was casually sporty and worn by men and women. Bulgari relaunched the collection in 2020, adding automatic movements and updated materials.

The newest additions to the collection include a newly darkened chronograph (with a new caliber), a blue-dialed time and date model and a sporty tennis-themed edition with a left-side crown.

The new Bulgari Aluminum Chronograph, with black dial.

Aluminum Chronograph

Now measuring a slightly larger 41mm in diameter, Bulgari’s Aluminum Chronograph (which won the GPHG Iconic Watch Prize in 2020) is now available in a version sporting an all-black dial, a black rubber bezel and a black rubber and aluminum bracelet.

Powered by a new automatic Caliber B381 (built from an automatic Sellita base with a Dubois-Depraz module), the new watch continues to utilize the aerospace-grade 6028 aluminum alloy and FKM rubber Bulgari incorporated into the impressive redesigned version of 2020, but now also includes a crown, caseback and both chronograph pushers made using black DLC-coated titanium.

Bulgari’s Aluminum Chronograph, off-white dial Panda edition, launches in September

Bulgari also adds the new automatic chronograph movement to the familiar off-white dial Aluminum Chronograph.

While the black-dialed model will be available in June, the newest off-white-dialed ‘Panda’ edition will arrive in September. 

Price: $4,640.

Capri Edition 

Bulgari adds a limited series to the Aluminum collection meant to celebrate the Italian island of Capri. Two models offer a dial colored in gradient Tyrrhenian blue, a shade reminiscent of Capri’s beachside sea and sky.

This new limited series (of 1,000 watches each) includes a Solotempo model displaying time and date and a chronograph version.

Each watch frames its dial with a blue rubber bezel that matches the rubber strap with aluminum links and aluminum pin buckle.

Bulgari fits the new Aluminum Capri Chronograph with its ETA-based automatic chronograph Caliber B130. The Capri Solotempo model is powered an ETA-based caliber B77 mechanical automatic movement, which also features a date display.

To add novelty, Bulgari has engraved the caseback with the Faraglioni, the three rock formations well known to travelers to the Italian island. 

Prices: $3,350 (time and date) and $4,800 (chronograph). 

The new Bulgari Aluminum Match Point Edition.

Match Point Edition 

This surprising and sporty aluminum model is meant to not only look a bit like a tennis ball, but also to be worn on the court.

Its unusual left-side crown keeps the winder away from the wearer’s flexing wrist during play, and with a smaller (40mm) lightweight aluminum case and an (included) extra Velcro strap (above), more than a few Bulgari Aluminum Match Point Edition watches just might see some net action.

Bulgari accents the watch’s white dial with green luminescent hands and indexes and adds tennis-ball-yellow luminescent seconds hand, markers and dots. Even the packaging of this 800-piece limited edition evokes the look of a tennis ball.

On the caseback Bulgari has engraved — you guessed it — a tennis ball. Inside Bulgari fits its ETA-based automatic B77 caliber with a comfortable 42-hour power reserve. 

Price: $3,350, available in July.

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The Watches

Porsche Design Celebrates the Rennsport Reunion 

To celebrate the upcoming Porsche Rennsport Reunion, slated to begin later this year (on September 28) at Leguna Seca in California, Porsche Design launches a U.S. limited edition watch: the Chronograph 1 – Rennsport Reunion 7 Edition.

The new Porsche Design the Chronograph 1 – Rennsport Reunion 7 Edition.

As an enhanced edition of the famed Porsche Design Chronograph 1 from 1972, the watch retains the original’s pioneering black livery. But instead of the original’s PVD steel case, the new models are forged using a more scratch-resistant titanium carbide case. But the revived watch still enthralls with same matte black dial, red chronograph seconds hand and 41mm case size as the original.

For this special edition, Porsche Design engraves a ‘7’ on the strap to celebrate the seventh Porsche Rennsport Reunion. 

Turn the watch over to see more commemorative markings, including a platinum-colored winding rotor in the form of the RS Spyder wheel rim with a colorful Porsche Crest (used exclusively for this edition). The rotor winds the superb COSC-certified Porsche Design caliber WERK 01.140.

Porsche Design offers customers two bracelets with this commemorative watch. Buyers receive a classic black titanium bracelet and the sporty black leather strap with stitching and Race-Tex in blue (and the embossed “7”). Porsche Design makes its strap materials from originals used in the interiors of Porsche sports cars.

The Porsche Design Chronograph 1 – Rennsport Reunion 7 Edition is priced at $12,500 and is limited to seventy-five pieces in celebration of 75th anniversary of Porsche. 

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