The "Midnight Purple" story continues at Armin Strom with a bold new chapter. This distinctive colour, deeply rooted in the history of the independent manufacture and inherited from founder Armin Strom himself, now extends beyond the dial and into the movement itself. Expressed through the newly released Orbit Midnight Purple, the signature midnight purple fumé dial remains at the centre of the composition, paired for the first time with a frosted midnight purple mainplate beneath to strengthen the visual connection between display and mechanics.

Powering the watch is the manufacture Calibre ASS20, developed and produced entirely in-house around the world's first on-demand date display on a ceramic bezel. This innovative mechanism rethinks the relationship between wearer and complication by displaying the date only when requested. Activated by a pusher at 10 o'clock, the date hand moves from its neutral position to indicate the current date on the bezel and advances automatically at midnight. A second press returns it discreetly to 12 o'clock, leaving the dial free from unnecessary information.

Beyond its avant-garde functionality, the timepiece focuses heavily on exceptional visual details. Hand-polished steel hands and applied hour markers are filled with Super-LumiNova®, complemented by signature numerals at 12 and 6 o’clock crafted from solid Super-LumiNova® blocks that create a striking visual presence after dark. Housed in a 43.4 mm stainless steel case framed by a black ceramic bezel, the timepiece is completed by a fully integrated stainless steel bracelet, delivering a cohesive fusion of modern sports-luxury and unique aesthetics.

Visible through the sapphire crystal and caseback, the movement highlights Armin Strom's dedication to transparent mechanics and haute horlogerie finishing. The purple mainplate creates a distinctive visual foundation, contrasting with rhodium-coated components and hand-finished finger bridges, while hand-polished bevels, perlage, and circular graining enrich every surface. To ensure both mechanical precision and finishing excellence, each watch is assembled twice. Limited to just 20 pieces worldwide, the Orbit Midnight Purple is one of the most recognisable and collectible expressions of the System 78 collection to date.
 

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A faithful tribute to the original model, the Tinkler 1958 repeater celebrates Angelus’s rich heritage of striking watches. Driven by a self-winding quarter-repeater movement, this double limited edition, available in gold or steel, continues the tradition of measuring instruments that built the manufacture’s reputation. From its establishment in 1891, the name Angelus has been synonymous with the chiming of a bell, a legacy reinforced by one of the Maison's first patents for a silent strike governor in 1896. Since then, repeater mechanisms have remained at the heart of Angelus collections, even being adapted into Braille-repeating watches for blinded soldiers during the First World War.

Inspired by this glorious history, Angelus is reissuing one of its rarest and most refined models: the Tinkler, based on the original 1958 edition. In 1958, Angelus filed a patent for a striking wristwatch, which was immediately followed by the original Tinkler—a pioneer of water-resistant, self-winding quarter-repeater watches. The new 38-mm case charms with a decidedly 1950s aesthetic that is clean, understated, and elegant. At 9 o’clock, the crown is balanced by a pusher that activates the quarter repeater, serving as a functional and historical hallmark of this legendary model.

The Tinkler 1958 edition is driven by the new Angelus A600 calibre, a mechanical self-winding movement that beats at 4Hz and offers a 70-hour power reserve. On request, the pusher at 9 o’clock triggers a sequence where each hour is marked by a clear strike on the first gong, followed by a double strike on two gongs to signal each quarter hour. The movement's finishing demonstrates the watchmaker's extreme attention to detail, featuring a snail-finished main plate, palladium-plated bridges adorned with Côtes de Genève, and a tungsten sunburst oscillating weight.

This new release is part of the La Fabrique line, where Angelus continues its legacy as a maker of specialty watches designed for specific activities or professional uses. The Tinkler 1958 is limited to 15 pieces in 18-carat yellow gold and 25 pieces in stainless steel, each paired with an alligator flank leather strap—ink blue for the gold version and saddle brown for the steel. Combining a modernist-style numeral 12 with exclamation-shaped hour markers at the quarter positions, the watch serves as a modern embodiment of a daring yet functional tradition.

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Drawing inspiration from the natural beauty and architectural heritage of Burgdorf, Armin Strom introduces the Tribute 1 Sandstein, a limited edition timepiece that blends Swiss tradition with modern refinement. With only 50 pieces available globally, this elegant watch pays tribute to the region’s iconic sandstone and the brand’s artisanal roots.

Encased in a 38 mm stainless steel case with alternating brushed and polished finishes, the Tribute 1 Sandstein features a warm sand-toned off-centre dial adorned with a grain d’orge guilloché pattern and Roman numerals. A frosted subdial and matching sand Alcantara strap complete the harmonious design.

At its heart beats the in-house Caliber AMW21, a hand-wound movement offering an impressive 100-hour power reserve. The visible motor barrel, held by a mirror-polished finger bridge, adds a modern technical flair while honoring traditional Swiss watchmaking values.

Through sapphire crystals on both sides, the movement reveals Armin Strom’s signature hand-finishing: hand-bevelled bridges, black-polished screws, Geneva stripes, and circular graining. Each watch is assembled twice, ensuring mechanical precision and aesthetic integrity.  

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Independent manufacture Greubel Forsey has unveiled the Balancier QM ($GF09cm$), marking a historic milestone for the workshop by officially naming its highest, most uncompromising hand-finishing standard: Qualité Musée (Museum Quality). While this meticulous level of execution has been quietly embedded into every single timepiece crafted by the Atelier since its founding in 2004, the Balancier QM is the first model to formally carry the designation. Driven forward by a dedicated research wing within the brand’s proprietary EWT (Experimental Watch Technology) Laboratory, this standard mandates that every individual component, whether fully visible through the sapphire crystals or buried deep within the gear train, must hold up as a standalone work of art.

The mechanical architecture of the Balancier QM is a tour de force of in-house micro-engineering and innovation. Most notably, the timepiece features a specialized hairspring manufactured entirely in-house from the raw alloy stage up—a rarity in modern watchmaking accomplished via restored antique machinery. This is paired with an impressive $12.60\text{ mm}$ variable-inertia balance wheel and a cutting-edge bi-level escapement system that utilizes unique convex pallet-jewels, allowing light to softly diffuse through the rubies rather than abruptly reflecting off flat surfaces. Illustrating the immense labor required for the Qualité Musée standard, the steel balance wheel bridge alone requires seven distinct hand-finishing techniques, ranging from flawless mirror barrel polishing to extra-large $0.40\text{ mm}$ hand-polished bevels.

Visually, the timepiece presents an intricately layered, three-dimensional landscape neatly organized within a highly compact 39.60mm white gold case. The movement architecture encourages deep visual exploration; the escapement is nestled into the lowermost depths of the chassis, while the eye naturally ascends past a high-set small seconds sub-dial, flame-blued polished steel hands, and a raised chapter ring. Beneath this upper track, a power-reserve indicator slips mysteriously across a dedicated sector to track the watch's 72-hour chronometric power delivery, sustained by two fast-rotating, series-coupled mainspring barrels. True to Greubel Forsey’s signature underplayed luxury, the words "Qualité Musée" are entirely absent from the dial, hidden instead on a secret internal plate deep inside the movement.

Limited to just 33 exclusive timepieces worldwide, the Balancier QM represents a deliberate strategic pivot for Greubel Forsey toward smaller, more wearable case dimensions without sacrificing an ounce of technical complexity. The manufacture openly acknowledges that achieving this level of structural perfection across all 298 movement parts demands an extraordinary expenditure of time, which will intentionally reduce the company's overall production volume heading into 2027. Looking ahead, the Qualité Musée standard will serve as the foundation for a series of compact releases, including a highly anticipated movement under development at the EWT lab featuring a gear train crafted entirely from solid gold.
 

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