Independents

Armin Strom have just announced this new piece. It does the Westminster chime, but also has two different striking modes: the current time and 12:59 on-demand. That is a neat feature. It also uses AS's resonance architecture to get good timing. As such, however, it requires 2x the components as a traditional striking piece. Therefore, the part count is at a rather high 506. However, a fantastic feature is its water resistance: 5ATM! This is impressive for minute repeaters which often sacrifice WR for sonics. Kudos to AS for finding a way to balance both (presumably—I haven't listened to this watch yet). A quick criticism: the movement decoration is described this way: "Plate and bridges are decorated at the highest quality level." From my initial glance, it seems to be lacking in the finishing department—clearly interior angles were foregone for this piece. This is disappointing considering price and how competent AS's finishing is at lower levels. That doesn't mean it's not good overall, but this is almost half a million CHF, so you'd hope it would be beyond reproach.

Quick info:

Case is titanium, 42mm and 11.70mm thick. 

Unfortunately, the images aren't very good, but these are the official ones from the brand's email. Curious to hear your honest thoughts!

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