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Armin Strom The Coffret Tourbillon Tour - Beverly Hills Report Part 1

The PuristSPro Team joined the David Orgell boutique located on the glamorous Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California to welcome CEO Serge Michel and Head of Product Development Claude Greisler from Armin Strom.  This event showcased the exclusive Armin Strom Coffret Tourbillon watch set as it makes it way to Los Angeles during the worldwide tour.  The first presentation was made several weeks ago at Interlaken (Please click here for Don Corson's report); The second in Dubai; and the third just last week in Singapore ( Please click here for Kong's report).  In fact, the theme of the four essential elements (Earth, Fire, Air, and Water) is represented by Los Angeles with the water theme on the shores of the Pacific ocean.

Photo by Anthony Tsai

 Armin Strom created the Coffret Tourbillon set of four unique timepieces to commemorate their first in-house tourbillon calibre ATC11.  The movement has double spring barrels and drive wheels that are visible on the dial side and provides 10 days of power reserve.  The ATC11 beats at 18000vph with 24 jewels and is comprised of 184 individual parts.  The tourbillon is clearly visible on the dial side at the 9 o'clock position.

After spending some time learning more about the collection and taking pictures and video, Serge and Claude gathered the guests for a presentation of the Coffret Tourbillon.  Here's a video of the presentation as Serge tells us about the history of Armin Strom along with the development and features of their tourbillon:

 Let's take a closer look at two watches, the Armin Strom Air and Water.  The Air has circular polishing that represents the clouds.  The Water was artistic with diamonds and blue sapphires setting on the bridges to represent water.  In this video, you can see how the precious stones reflect the shimmering motion and brillance of the water element.  Claude talks about the skeletonizing philosophy with a modern touch:

Here's a front view of the Tourbillon Water:

The Tourbillon Earth has a stainless steel case that is blackened PVD.  One the features of this watch is that the plates and bridges are made with ceramic inlays.  Here's a video of Claude taking about the inlays and the process of milling out the materials:

Another front view, the black case and subdials shows off the polished double spring barrels and drive wheels.  The large crown was easy to wind and the movement had a nice and smooth feel.

A wrist shot on a average sized wrist.  I liked the thick hornback strap as it felt secure on the wrist.  A black rubber strap is included and so is a stainless steel PVD'd double-folding clasp:

The Tourbillon Earth was popular.  It seemed the guests were enjoying winding the watch to see the two drives wheels rotate. 

I think the group favorite was the Tourbillon Fire.  The plates and bridges are entirely engraved by hand with a flame pattern.  Here's a quick video with Claude showing the Tourbillon Fire.  It was interesting for me to learn about the development stages for this tourbillon.  The process began in 2009 with the ARM09 movement.  The press kit I received included a very detailed explanation of the development of the ATC11 and the special features of the drive mechanisms, the tourbillon cage, and the regulator.

I noticed a cool looking display with the ATC11 calibre used by the Tourbillon fire.  The closeup photos here show the fire engraving on the plates and bridges that connect the double spring barrels and drive wheels. 

The tourbillon regulator uses a overcoil spring with a Breguet end curve along with a screw balance wheel with white gold balancing screws.  I was surprised to learn that (with a few exceptions) almost all the parts of the ATC11 calibre is manufactured in-house by Armin Strom.  Components such as screws, wheels, pinions, levers, springs and plates.  Screws, axles and pivots are machine turned in a lathe from solid brass rods. The outer shapes of the bridges, levers and springs are cut by wire erosion machining processes.

And a few more closeup photos of the ATC11 movement: