The New Armin Strom One Week Manufacture Edition is Nostalgic Watchmaking at Its Best

They say you can never go home again, but what if you were so ahead of the curve that most brands are still catching up? Well, we have a sneaking suspicion that Armin Strom has the answer because that is exactly what happened with the brand’s inaugural in-house calibre, the ARM09 (which powered 2010’s One Week piece).

The ARM09 boasted a seven-day power reserve and a radical devotion to symmetrical equilibrium in its design. The timepiece became canon in the Armin Strom collection and sired such editions as the One Week Air and One Week Skeleton.

With each new generation, Armin Strom improved and evolved this long-lasting watch. Then, in 2023, the brand decided to push this collection forward by looking backward with the One Week First Edition, which boasted an entirely novel design and construction.

In 2024, to celebrate 15 years of the opening of its integrated manufacture, Armin Strom is launching another limited edition update called the One Week Manufacture Edition.

As previously mentioned, the 2010 version was Armin Strom’s first calibre entirely developed and manufactured in-house. That year was also right before in-house movements became a status symbol for brands (even Patek Philippe employed a Lemania movement inside its perpetual calendar chronographs until 2011).

Today, many enthusiasts will argue about what the term “in-house” even means anymore. But there’s a reason why brands like to brag about an in-house movement: building a calibre completely from scratch is a financial investment and a technical feat.
 

The One Week from 2010 was also impressive aesthetically and specifically designed to showcase the symmetry of the calibre ARM09. Moreover, because the movement’s architecture was built around two barrels, the One Week timepiece had, you guessed it, a seven-day power reserve.

The 2024 iteration features a new manual winding ARM21 calibre, which features two mainspring barrels that work in series to provide energy to the gear train at consistent levels. Secured by two finger-style bridges (a signature design for Armin Strom), the barrels are also symmetrically arranged on the right portion of the openwork dial, giving the dial a pleasing sense of balance.

The manual winding ritual is also visually satisfying as the motion of the two ratchet wheels winding both barrels in opposite directions is viewable from the dial side.
 

The biggest chronometric change of the new One Week is the oscillating frequency of the regulating organ. The rate has been increased from the OG’s 2.5 Hz to 3.5 Hz (25,200 vph), which delivers a more stable performance. This adjustment to the oscillating frequency required Armin Strom’s engineers to recalculate and reconfigure the entire gear train.

Actions have consequences. So, naturally, Armin Strom has revamped the architecture on the outside to provide a better view of the calibre within.

The most obvious difference between last year’s One Week First Edition and this year’s One Week Manufacture Edition is the latest model has gone monochromatic, thus bringing out the inner beauty of the mechanism that is housed in a 41mm steel case with an integrated steel bracelet.
 

Meanwhile, the mainplate, the bridges at 7 and 11 o’clock, and many other parts visible from the front are coated in anthracite PVD. These touches all result in a sportier appearance and provide contrast to the uncoated barrels and bridge on the opposite side of the dial.

As visually pleasing as its monochromatic coloring may be, the One Week Manufacture Edition’s most impressive feature is its open-worked dial.
 

More than just a window to the movement, this structural look adds extra dimensionality, with one highlight of this layout being the conical power reserve indicator that provides a novel way for the wearer to track all seven days of autonomy.

Armin Strom watches typically feature offset hour and minute hands, but to add more layers to the face, the One Week Manufacture Edition has placed faceted hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova at the center of the non-traditional dial (with the small seconds dial at 9 o’clock).
 

By bucking one of its own signature design elements, Armin Strom gets a more open display so that the movement can be more easily examined from many angles

Why recast this iconic timepiece so soon after launching the One Week First Edition? As Armin Strom founder Serge Michel notes: “Collectors who missed the opportunity to get a first edition of the redesigned One Week will now have another chance.”

Still, if you’re a fan, do not sleep on this launch because the One Week Manufacture Edition is limited to only 100 pieces and sells for $33,600. For more information, visit the Armin Strom website.

(Images © Armin Strom)