AS SWISS AS IT GETS

This year’s ultimate Swiss watch truly incorporates aspects of Switzerland beyond just its heritage of watchmaking. It comes in this casually stylish, yet technically sophisticated, masterpiece by Armin Strom.

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

THE ARMIN STROM BOOTH at this year’s Watches and Wonders Geneva was unlike the others.

While the big maisons had sprawling booths that scaled two or three floors and multiple experience spaces, it was an intimate affair at the independent brand, with high chairs gathered around a single long table. Encased in a builtin display atop the table were the year’s outstanding novelties—the One Week Skeleton Titanium and the Orbit Purple—alongside Armin Strom’s most famed creations. The booth was built for community, and for deep, honest conversations about horology. No bells, no whistles, just Serge Michel and master watchmaker Claude Greisler doing what they do best.

What you learn quickly at the booth is that Michel and Greisler are in the business of creating technically sophisticated watches, but they are also proudly Swiss.

I am reminded of this again, three months after Watches and Wonders, as Armin Strom has unveiled a new watch that is typical of the brand—unassuming, yet stylish and sophisticated. Only this time, they've crafted a watch that is also Swiss in execution and aesthetics.