Gold has weight, color, and density. In watchmaking, it also has a “voice,” determined by how it is engraved, polished, satin-finished, brought to light, or incorporated into the movement. The Armin Strom Tribute³ Au750, unveiled at Milano Watch Week 2026, was born from this idea: using the same precious metal to create surfaces that are profoundly different from one another.
The case is made of 18-karat rose gold. So are the off-center dial and the small seconds sub-dial. Also, for the first time on the Tribute³, all three bridges of the AMW21 caliber are made of rose gold.
Then the material takes on a new look. Soleil, grain d’orge, Clou de Paris: three guilloché patterns adorn the dial, the small seconds sub-dial, and the three-quarter plate, placing the métiers d’art at the heart of a collection built around mechanical watchmaking.
Eight pieces. 38 millimeters. And a designation, Au750, which this time describes much more than just the alloy used.
Gold Takes Center Stage
The Tribute³ Au750 retains the off-center layout that characterizes the model. Inside the 38-mm 18-karat rose gold case, the hour and minute hands occupy the left side of the dial, while the movement’s components are visible on the opposite side.
The barrel remains fully exposed beneath a mirror-polished rose gold finger bridge. The balance wheel also features the characteristic finger-bridge construction; on the back, the third element takes the form of a large three-quarter bridge.
There are three bridges, all crafted from solid gold! The Tribute³ had already made the arrangement of its mechanical components a defining feature of its design. With the Au750, Armin Strom reimagines the very material of that construction. The gold extends beyond the case, crosses the dial, and reaches the movement.
The off-center dial features a sunburst guilloché pattern arranged radially around the hour markers. A few millimeters further out, the small seconds sub-dial changes texture to a grain d’orge pattern.
The new Breguet-style steel hands with a gray PVD coating, manufactured in-house and finished by hand, break up the golden color scheme. Roman numerals and hands give the time display a more classic look; the exposed barrel and balance wheel are unmistakably part of the Armin Strom design language.
Three guilloché patterns
The view through the case back is once again entirely different. Behind the sapphire crystal, the three-quarter bridge in 18-karat rose gold dominates the view of the AMW21. The surface features a Clou de Paris guilloché pattern, framed by beveled and hand-polished edges. The gray PVD-coated movement plate remains visible beneath, creating a sharp color contrast with the bridge.
Soleil pattern on the dial. Barley grain pattern on the small seconds sub-dial. Clou de Paris pattern on the movement.
The sequence is important. The material remains the same, but our perception of it changes with each step. The soleil directs the light outward; the grain d’orge breaks it down into a finer pattern; the Clou de Paris captures it within its own geometry.
The range of finishes continues with hand-polished bevels, frosted surfaces, circular perlage, a mirror finish, and black-polished screws. Armin Strom also assembles each Tribute³ Au750 twice, following the method adopted by the Manufacture to verify mechanical precision and the quality of the finishes.
AMW21: 100 hours in 4.2 millimeters
Beneath the guilloché and polished finishes lies the AMW21 in-house caliber, a hand-wound mechanical movement entirely designed and developed by Armin Strom.
It measures 33.5 mm in diameter and 4.2 mm in thickness, consists of 135 components and 21 jewels, and oscillates at a frequency of 3.5 Hz, equivalent to 25,200 vibrations per hour. The regulating system combines a flat hairspring with a variable-inertia balance wheel.
The power reserve reaches 100 hours, and a substantial portion of its efficiency stems from the motor barrel. Its design reverses the conventional architecture: the shaft winds the spring inside a fixed drum. This compact solution was developed to reduce the watch’s overall dimensions and contribute to the AMW21’s power reserve of over four days.
The barrel thus takes on a dual role. It is one of the visual focal points of the dial and, at the same time, one of the technical elements on which the caliber’s efficiency depends.
The Manufacture produces 97% of the AMW21’s components in-house. In the world of independent watchmaking, this figure serves as a concrete measure of the control Armin Strom exercises over its product.
An entire timepiece in 38 millimeters
The Tribute³ Au750 is packed with features. It’s even more intricate. Yet the watch measures just 38 mm in diameter and 9.38 mm in height.
The proportions bring the design into focus rather than overwhelming it. The off-center dial, small seconds, barrel, balance wheel, and bridges create a dense composition while keeping the various visual levels distinct.
The crystal and case back are made of sapphire with an anti-reflective coating; the watch is water-resistant to 5 ATM. A gray nubuck strap with tone-on-tone stitching complements the case and is fastened with an 18-karat rose gold pin buckle.
Gray makes a comeback on the hands and dial of the AMW21. Gold, on the other hand, runs through everything else.
Hot and cold. Full and empty. Decorated surface and mechanical movement. The Tribute³ Au750 builds its character on these contrasts, without losing the clarity that has always distinguished Armin Strom’s work.
Tribute³ Au750: Eight Pieces at Milano Watch Week
The new Armin Strom Tribute³ Au750, model RG26-TRI.AU, debuts at Milano Watch Week 2026 in a limited edition of eight pieces worldwide, priced at CHF 69,000.
Milan also provides the perfect setting for understanding this. The Tribute³ Au750 belongs to that category of watches where macro photography reveals a great deal, but inevitably leaves something out of the frame: the play of light on the surfaces.
On the wrist, even a slight tilt is enough. The soleil pattern opens up, the grain d’orge gains depth, and the polished bridge produces a sharp reflection. On the back, the Clou de Paris pattern breaks up the expansive surface of the three-quarter bridge, allowing the beveled edges to emerge along the perimeter.
On one side, time. On the other, the mechanism that measures it. Between the two, the same gold flows through the entire watch, constantly changing its appearance.
This is perhaps the detail to note when viewing the Tribute³ Au750 at Milan Watch Week. Rose gold might be its most striking feature; Armin Strom, however, chooses to make it the starting point. He engraves it, polishes it, incorporates it into the movement, and gives it three different geometric shapes.
In the end, there are eight watches and just a few square centimeters of material left. In the right hands, they are enough to show just how far the art of watchmaking can go.
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