The Armin Strom Orbit, the world's first watch with a date display on the bezel, returns to the market in a Manufacture Edition.

The Armin Strom Orbit First Edition, the world's first watch with a column-wheel-driven date display on the bezel, was limited to just 25 pieces. After garnering critical acclaim, it's now back on the market as the Orbit Manufacture Edition, a groundbreaking Haute Horlogerie piece with a sporty appeal. The off-center black dial and silver rhodium-plated bridges create a beautiful contrast and emphasize the watch's sporty sleekness.

Orbit Manufacture Edition

　Transparent mechanisms, fully visible from the outside, are the driving force behind the Armin Strom Manufacture, and no other model embodies this more than the Orbit. The latest addition to the System 78 collection, Armin Strom's unique and eccentric line of luxury timepieces crafted in the Manufacture's purest forms, the Orbit First Edition was released in March 2022 and immediately caught the eye of discerning collectors.

　And now, the Orbit is back with an even more resolutely sporty aesthetic as the Orbit Manufacture Edition.

　With its captivating appearance and ingenious mechanism, the Orbit completely reimagines one of the most useful and commonly used watch functions: the date. Combining multiple complications, the column-wheel date adds a creative and innovative touch to a complication that has rarely been revisited until now. Entirely conceived, developed, and manufactured in-house at Armin Strom, the Orbit represents a game-changer, introducing an unprecedented new date display. This ingenious workmanship can be admired from the dial side.

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What is the "Column Wheel Date" with on/off function?

　The date display is driven by a column wheel mechanism, as its name suggests, which can be seen from the dial side. This system, commonly found in chronograph mechanisms, improves the stability and performance of the date display while providing a satisfying and reliable tactile experience when turning the date function on and off. The date, engraved on the black ceramic bezel, is indicated by a large central hand with a red-tipped Armin "A." This date hand has two modes: stationary and running.

　Stationary mode means "off," and the hand remains fixed at 12 o'clock, so it does not obstruct the off-center dial. Pressing the pusher on the left side of the case "links" the date hand, causing it to jump to the correct date position. The date then automatically changes at midnight. Pressing the button again returns the hand to its home position. Mechanical memory ensures that the next jump indicates the correct date as desired. The date hand also returns from 31 to 1 via a retrograde mechanism, ensuring that the date is never confused with the stationary mode position. The date can be set directly using the corrector button at 8 o'clock on the case, or manually by advancing the time using the crown.

Orbit movement

The appeal of the Orbit Manufacture Edition is its three-dimensional movement structure. The Orbit movement is based on the development of Gravity Equal Force, the world's first automatic watch equipped with a constant force transmission mechanism, providing stable power to the balance. The power reserve is approximately 72 hours.

　A new development of centuries of watchmaking knowledge and principles, the stopwork mechanism – a clever solution that prevents the mainspring from fully unwinding, thereby stabilising the barrel's rotational moment – ​​is being integrated into an automatic movement for the first time in the world.

　And like all Armin Strom watches, this manufacture movement boasts the same high standards of finishing typically reserved for the finest examples of Haute Horlogerie: the bridges have chamfered and polished edges, and the mainplate is hand-finished with polished chatons and circular graining.