Introducing Armin Strom and Collective Horology Unveil the P.03 Night Ops

The Swiss brand Armin Strom has collaborated for the first time with the American company Collective Horology to present a special edition: the Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force P.03 Night Ops watch. This limited edition, restricted to only 30 pieces, features a unique design and introduces titanium to the Equal Force collection for the first time. Last month, the company introduced a new version in purple with a sapphire dial.

Collective Horology is an agent for many watch companies in the American market. The company has recently presented several special editions in cooperation with various manufacturers, the most recent being this partnership with Armin Strom.

Launched by Armin Strom at the end of 2019 to celebrate the brand’s tenth anniversary, the Gravity Equal Force marked a milestone as the first automatic watch featuring a patented equal-force transmission integrated into the mainspring barrel. Now, the Gravity Equal Force returns in a new edition, marrying a striking purple guilloché mainplate with an off-centred dial crafted from transparent sapphire crystal, offering a mesmerizing view of the intricate mechanics.

Encased in grade 5 titanium coated with Black DLC, this limited edition boasts the same 41mm diameter case as the Equal collection, but it is the first time it comes in titanium. With a thickness of 12.65mm, the case ensures water resistance up to 30 meters, while its slim lugs and bezel maximize visibility of the architectural movement from every angle.

The dial of this new timepiece is open-worked. The base plate features a guilloché-engraved pattern drawn from geometric designs found on knife scales, hand-guillochéed by Kari Voutilainen’s dial factory, Comblémine. The movement bridges, similarly inspired by pocket knife clips, have been milled and hand-finished with contrasting brushed and micro-blasted surfaces.

Positioned at 9 o'clock, the off-centered dial is a khaki green fumé matte. Completing the dial are stainless steel hour and minute hands, crafted in-house and filled with Super-LumiNova for enhanced legibility in low-light conditions. Additionally, a small seconds sub-dial is positioned between 7 and 8 o'clock and features a vivid green.

Occupying the right-hand portion of the open display are three dark grey ruthenium-plated bridges, supporting the barrel at 5 o'clock and the highly efficient unidirectionally winding micro rotor at 1 o'clock. These bridges, inspired by finger-style bridges found in pocket watches, undergo meticulous hand embellishment, taking up to a day to complete.

The transparent caseback reveals the Automatic ASB19 caliber, meticulously designed and manufactured in-house by Armin Strom. Equipped with 28 jewels, the balance wheel beats at a frequency of 3.5 Hz (25,200 vibrations per hour), providing a power reserve of 72 hours.

The barrel incorporates a solution that ensures equal force transmission to the balance, hence the model's name. This solution achieves similar goals as complications such as the fusée-chain transmission that we find in Ferdinand Berthoud watches, or the constant force escapement in Grand Seiko by way of example, not exhaustive enumeration. while Armin Strom succeeded in developing its own mechanism in a unique way.

Operating within the mainspring barrel, a stop-works declutch system limits the torque delivered to the balance, ensuring smooth power distribution. Specifically, a Geneva wheel, mounted to the barrel housing cover, restricts the rotation of the mainspring barrel to 9 full turns out of a possible 12.5, representing the central 72% of the mainspring’s torque curve, the most consistent portion. As the barrel housing unwinds around the arbor, a pin counts the rotations on the Geneva wheel until it reaches the locked position, preventing further unwinding.

Limited to just 30 pieces, the watch comes paired with a Black fabric strap with light gray stitching and black DLC-coated titanium pin buckle, priced at USD 27,000, equivalent to 100,660 AED. 

For more information, visit the official Collective horology website.