Armin Strom, the independent Swiss watchmaker renowned for its openworked designs and mechanical innovation, proudly unveils two striking new additions to its System 78 collection: the Orbit Lime Green and Orbit Ice Blue.

These limited edition timepieces—each restricted to just 20 pieces worldwide—introduce vibrant new fumé dials that blend bold aesthetics with technical mastery. The Lime Green model radiates energy and modernity, while the Ice Blue version offers a serene and sophisticated presence. Both dials feature a gradient effect that transitions from vivid color at the center to deep black at the edges, enhancing the visual depth of the openworked design.

A World-First Date Display on Demand

At the heart of both models lies the Armin Strom Manufacture Caliber ASS20, the world’s first movement to feature a date display on a ceramic bezel that appears only when activated. A pusher at 10 o’clock engages the date hand, which points to the current date and advances automatically at midnight. A second press returns the hand to its neutral position, offering a playful yet practical complication powered by a column-wheel mechanism.

The movement also incorporates Armin Strom’s patented Equal Force Barrel, delivering consistent energy for a stable 72-hour power reserve.

Haute Horology Craftsmanship

Each Orbit model is meticulously hand-finished at Armin Strom’s Manufacture in Biel/Bienne, employing traditional techniques such as anglage, perlage, and circular graining. The off-center dial is paired with rhodium-coated hands enhanced with Super-LumiNova®, ensuring legibility and elegance. The watches are housed in a stainless steel case with a fixed ceramic bezel and come with a matching bracelet featuring a double-folding clasp.

The Science of Movement

Founded in 1967 and revitalized in 2009, Armin Strom continues to push the boundaries of horological innovation. Every timepiece is designed, developed, and assembled in-house, reflecting the brand’s commitment to transparency, craftsmanship, and mechanical excellence.

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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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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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