While the Armin Strom team are busy taking part in Gumball 3000, I thought rather than show you some of the special commemorative pieces they’ve created for the race (which are pretty cool in their own right), I’d share a photo essay of my absolute favorite collection of theirs to date, the Skeleton Pure.

Based on Armin Strom’s One Week Skeleton released during Baselworld 2014, the Skeleton Pure collection is a more modernistic embodiment of the independent brand’s in-house manufactured skeleton movement, resulting in an overall  watch that is neither entirely classical nor blatantly avant-garde.

Armin-Strom-One-Week-Skeleton

2014 One Week Skeleton

Like other Armin Strom collections, there are four references or “elements”, each with a different case material and movement treatment offering a distinct look. What makes the Skeleton Pure collection so outstanding is that it showcases what Armin Strom is capable of in its small but capable manufacture, from movement design and realisation to hand-finishing and decoration of individual components and galvanic treatments, as I discovered during my manufacture visit.

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-collection

Pure Fire: featuring a red gold case with a dark brown  base plate, this version is probably the one that resembles last year’s One Week Skeleton the most, albeit with a dark brown PVD base plate and without the classical engravings on the bridges.

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Fire-1

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Fire-2

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Fire-3

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Fire-4

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Fire-5

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Fire-6

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Fire-7

 

Pure Water: My personal favorite of the collection (that just so happens to be a 2015 Red Dot award winner) is the Pure Water, which comes in a polished steel case with a blue PVD baseplate. If you’re as obsessed with blue dials as I am, then the Pure Water is sort of the skeleton equivalent of a blue dial.

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Water-1

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Water-2

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Water-3

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Water-4

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Water-6

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Water-7

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Water-8

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Water-9

 

Pure Earth: the boldest of the Skeleton Pure pieces, the Pure Earth features a black PVD steel case and baseplate with grey bridges and just a touch of orange.

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Earth-1

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Earth-2

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Earth-3

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Earth-4

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Earth-5

 

Pure Air: Finally we have the Pure Air, which as the name implies is pretty lightweight, coming in a titanium case with a more monomochromatic grey baseplate. It’s certainly the most subtle of the lot.

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Air-1

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Air-2

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Air-3

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Air-4

Armin-Strom-Skeleton-Pure-Air-5

Each varaition of the Armin Strom Skeleton Pure will be limited to 100 pieces, with prices ranging from approximately CHF 30’000 for the Pure Water in steel to 45’000 for the Pure Fire in rose gold.

More information on www.arminstrom.com