SpotlightPresenting The Armin Strom x Horomariobro Pure Resonance Ultimate Sapphire
Armin Strom released their Pure Resonance Ultimate Sapphire, a minimal timepiece with an open-worked sapphire-crystal dial in collaboration with watch collector and Instagram influencer known for his detailed photographs of watch movements
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Known for their exquisite timepieces with intricately-crafted skeleton designs, Swiss-German watch manufacture Armin Strom released the Pure Resonance Ultimate Sapphire in collaboration with watch collector Horomariobro. The US-based collector, widely regarded for his detailed Instagram photos of watch movements, reached out to the brand with his request for a minimal sapphire crystal dial. The result is a limited 10-piece Armin Strom X Horomariobro Pure Resonance Ultimate Sapphire, featuring an open-worked sapphire crystal dial, sans the small seconds sub-dial, with a unique symmetry and extremely detailed hand decorations.
Armin Strom x Horomariobro: An Inspired Influence
The Pure Resonance Ultimate Sapphire is based on the brand’s 2018 release, the 42mm Pure Resonance watch. Set in a 42mm case, the Ultimate Sapphire’s dial is in sapphire crystal, and the small seconds sub-dial has been omitted for a cleaner aesthetic. The brand’s signature ‘lip’ on the case at six o’clock is also significantly absent, per the Instagram influencer’s request. Also absent is the Armin Strom logo on the timekeeping sub-dial. “Sometimes, you need a push from the outside to make radical changes that you wouldn’t dare to think about yourself, like removing the seconds,” says Armin Strom co-founder and master watchmaker Claude Greisler.
The cleaner watch face enhances focus on the dual balance wheels, oscillating in resonance towards and away from each other. Definitely fascinating from a mechanical viewpoint, this movement is even more intriguing to watch in action.
Inspiring The Influencer: Armin Strom x Horomariobro
“I always loved Armin Strom’s resonance approach from both a physics and a mechanical point of view,” says Horomariobro, known as the ‘King of macro photography’ for his microscopic pictures of highly-detailed watch movements. And the Pure Resonance Ultimate Sapphire watch provides ample inspiration. Decorated with a grain d’orge guilloche pattern by artist and watchmaker Kari Voutilainen, the black PVD-coated gear train bridges stand out on the face of the watch. Other decorations—hand-bevelling on the edges, circular graining on the skeletonised bridges, and the frosted-looking, grainy texture on the winding bridge—were all done in-house.
Even the reverse of the watch is symmetrical and painstakingly decorated. Armin Strom’s seal of origin, the ‘pin’, is engraved with the brand’s ‘AS’ logo and ‘Horomariobro’. “I never expected my simple request for a unique piece would turn into a limited edition with my Instagram name on it,” says Horomariobro.
