Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force Limited Oster Edition is Here

By Oster Jewelers | March 25, 2022 0 Comments

After much anticipation, 2022 welcomes the release of the newest Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force Limited Oster Editions. This series is the follow up to the first successful Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force Limited Oster Edition which sold out immediately in 2020. The new editions are exclusively available at Oster Jewelers in celebration of our 20th Anniversary.

The original 2020 series was the first Gravity Equal Force to feature a collaboration with Kari Voutilainen with the guilloché dial plate. For the second series, we wanted to explore new dimensions and add further guilloché to the dials and create a truly unique pattern for the dial plate. To commemorate 20 years of Oster Jewelers, this series sees the release of two new versions, each with a limited release of 10 pieces edition (20 pieces total). The 18k rose gold edition is paired with a deep royal blue, and the stainless steel edition brings the warmth of rich chocolate brown against the cool steel. A second limited edition stainless steel version will be released later in the year.

Origins

First launched in 2019, the Gravity Equal Force was the world’s first automatic watch with constant force transmission. The result of this endeavor meant consistent power delivery to the balance ensuring flawlessly constant precision. Housed in a 41mm case and powered by the Calibre ASB19, the Gravity Equal Force was easily recognized by its small seconds sub-dial inside the off-center hours and minute dial. The skeletonized design showed off the intricate inner workings of the visible micro-rotor and mainspring barrel supported by the striking finger bridges. The Gravity Equal Force brought unparalleled time deliverance at a 25’200 A/h frequency with a 72-hours power reserve.

Innovation

Exclusive to the first set of Armin Strom System 78 watches was the very first implementation of a “stop-work” declutch mechanism that was utilized in combination with an automatic movement. This key innovation, rarely found in modern watches, offers the benefit of a more consistent energy transmission. Typically, the mainspring used in timepieces is a tightly coiled metal ribbon housed inside a watch’s barrel that delivers force to the movement. There are shortcomings with this design though, as the force can never be consistent as it unwinds, with greater force provided when fully wound compared to at the tail-end of its power reserve. The “stop work” mechanism found in the Gravity Equal Force addresses this issue by limiting the mainspring from completely unwinding, therefore delivering power consistently by utilizing only that part of the mainspring’s unwinding process.

Inspiration

This latest Oster series continues to build on the foundation of the Gravity Equal Force, and once again finds Jeremy teaming up with guilloché master, Kari Voutilainen. The inspiration for the dial plate pattern was a vintage watch that Jeremy had acquired back in the late 90’s. What set this watch apart was the incredible tapestry pattern of its dial, a popular novelty of vintage timepieces. Jeremy sought to implement a fresh take on this design with Kari’s fine eye for detail to create a superb, modernized version of the classic pattern from the 1950’s. Kari quickly got to work at his Comblemine workshop and presented various executions with varying sizes of the patterns and angles of the cuts, with each showcasing a very different take on the original. After great deliberation, the pattern that looked the most modern and would appear to play with light the most was chosen. The result is even more striking than we could have imagined.

Finishing Touches

Jeremy and Claude Greisler (Armin Strom) worked for a couple of months together tweaking the design, deliberating on whether or not to guilloché the sub-seconds dial. Finally, by removing the guilloché from the sub-seconds dial the entire design seemed to click into place.

The main aim of the design was to take a really interesting and hugely successful watch and add a new dimension and not play “safe” with a typical interpretation made to just sell watches. Instead, they looked to really create something special that is an evolution of everything that Armin Strom had created within Gravity Equal Force up to this point, and to highlight the unique technical brilliance of Claude’s creation along with the stunning artistic execution of Kari Voutilainen. This has more than been achieved with these special editions.

Like the original Gravity Equal Force, the exhibition style case back of the latest Oster series shows off the inner workings of the impressive Calibre ASB19. These finer details are just one of the many nuances that make these watches precise works of horological art.

Contact Jeremy at jeremy@osterjewelers.com or phone 303.572.1111 to reserve one of these remarkable Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force Limited Oster Edition 20th Anniversary watches today, or visit us at Oster Jewelers.

Photos courtesy of Xavier Markl (Monochrome Watches). Read more about this unique watch collaboration at Monochrome Watches.