New release: Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance First Edition watch

This year, Armin Strom is presenting a completely new version of its Dual Time Resonance at Geneva Watch Days. The existing Dual Time Resonance is arguably the brand's flagship model, a giant oval that showcases the brand's in-house skills and its signature resonance mechanism. This watch was a true behemoth that could never go unnoticed, and the brand's most expensive model after the Minute Repeater Resonance. But the new Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance First Edition comes in a much more wearable package, while still showcasing everything that makes Armin Strom what it is.

Instead of a 59mm behemoth taking up your entire forearm, the new Dual Time GMT Resonance is presented in a more reasonable 39mm case that is just 9.05mm thick. The case is made of 18k white gold with a mix of polished and brushed finishes that seem to have the precise transitions you would expect from a watch of this caliber. The watch is operated via two crowns on opposite sides; the left one controls the left time, while the right one sets the right time and is responsible for winding. While we are used to 30m water resistance in these types of watches, Armin Strom has ensured 50m here; that's not a huge leap, but it's enough to avoid excessive rubbing in the rain. The watch has sapphire crystals on the front and back and comes with two alligator straps with white gold fittings: matte grey with sky blue stitching (seen here) and light grey with pearl grey stitching.

The dial side looks pretty spectacular, as always. While much of the mechanism is visible, including the resonant clutch spring at 12 o'clock, the time indicators are beautiful in their own way. The two sky blue indicators feature a grenage texture and sit above the anthracite PVD main plate. The black hour rings have an azurage finish with applied rhodium-plated indices. Instead of the Alpha hands seen on the larger models, this model has polished and faceted rhodium-plated gladiator hands, giving it a more casual appeal. I'm just glad it's not the skeletonized hands used on other Armin Stroms like the Tribute, as those tend to disappear in front of their dials. At 6 o'clock on each dial is a 3D engraved day/night indicator showing the sun and moon. The larger Dual Time Resonance models have a single 24-hour display and power reserve indicators instead of the day/night indicators on this watch. I think this change improves the watch; in the other watch, the power reserves are separate but the winding is connected. So both barrels fill and empty at the same time (provided the resonance part holds out), eliminating the need for duplicate indicators. The other element that catches the eye on the dial are the partially exposed barrel caps, which have been expertly stamped with the model name.

I find it odd that this is called a “Dual Time GMT.” I would argue that GMT is a type of dual time watch. A dual time is any watch that can display two time zones. A GMT typically almost always uses a second 24-hour hand to display the second time zone on a 12-hour watch, and almost always does so by adding just that one 24-hour hand. It’s a square-rectangle relationship; any dual time can be considered a GMT, but not every GMT can be considered dual time. In that sense, I think GMT is a bit misleading here; in fact, I would argue that it does a disservice to the capabilities of this watch. I suspect that the use of the “GMT” in the model allows the brand to differentiate this watch from the existing dual time resonance models. This is all semantics, of course, but we have to have the conversations somewhere.

The Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance First Edition (and presumably all subsequent editions of it) is equipped with an entirely new in-house caliber, the manual ARF22. Essentially, this is a simplification of the ARF17 that powers the large Dual Time Resonance models. That movement had the aforementioned dual power reserve indicator, a 24-hour sub-dial, and a 100-hour power reserve, 419 components in total. The ARF22, on the other hand, is made up of just 231 parts. It operates at 25,200 A/h and has a 42-hour power reserve. The movement is expertly finished in every way, with surfaces receiving treatments ranging from black polishing to perlage. Each time display has its own barrel and gearing, with the winding connected via the crown at 4 o'clock and the three-dimensional ratchet wheel at 6 o'clock, and the two balances connected by the resonance clutch spring on the dial side. The theory behind resonance is that the vibrations of two neighboring objects become synchronized and each serves to balance the other.

The new Dual Time Resonance is an intelligent reorientation of the brand and shows that it can respond to the market without giving up its characteristic elements. The revision of the movement for a case that 20mm The difference from the previous model is impressive, and the watch is also $80,000 cheaper than the previous model (and I don't care about dual power reserve indicators at $80,000). Despite the more traditional design, the watch stays true to the name of the Masterpiece collection in which Armin Strom positioned it. The Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance costs 120,700 USD and is limited to 25 pieces. For further information, please visit Armin Strom’s website.