News · Armin Strom

Armin Strom puts solid gold into the mechanics of the Tribute³ Au750

Three solid-gold bridges lead a hand-wound 38mm watch limited to eight pieces, with a Swiss list price of CHF 69,000.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 3 October 2026

• Armin Strom’s Tribute³ Au750 uses three solid-gold movement bridges, an off-centre gold dial and a 38mm rose-gold case.
• The hand-wound AMW21 calibre combines a 100-hour motor barrel with a dark mainplate and a decorated three-quarter bridge visible from behind.
• Only eight examples of reference RG26-TRI.AU are planned; Armin Strom lists CHF 69,000 and offers ordering through its product page.

Gold is often treated as the final flourish on a dress watch, a richer case around an otherwise familiar movement. Armin Strom has taken a more thorough route. Its latest Tribute³ puts gold on the dial and the bridges that hold the calibre together, then makes those parts visible from both sides. The edition is small enough that most of us will encounter it only in photographs, but its construction makes the question interesting anyway: what happens when precious metal becomes part of the architecture? This is the Armin Strom Tribute³ Au750.

The bridges are the attraction

Three solid-gold bridges define the architecture of the hand-wound AMW21 movement. On the dial side, a rose-gold finger bridge holds the visible barrel, while the three-quarter bridge takes its turn through the caseback. The off-centre gold dial uses a soleil finish and Roman numerals, while a smaller gold subdial carries a grain d'orge pattern. The grey PVD mainplate gives those warmer surfaces a darker background. This is decorative watchmaking with the structural pieces left in view.

That arrangement could easily become visually exhausting. Here, the small time display provides a calm place for the eye to settle, while the bridges do the dramatic work around it. The grey PVD steel hands have a Breguet-style shape, another classical note in an otherwise unusually open composition. I like that Armin Strom has kept the dial separate from the movement show: one area tells the time, the rest invites a closer look at how the watch has been assembled. Whether that balance succeeds in person remains something photographs cannot settle completely.

Turn it over and the three-quarter bridge carries clou de Paris decoration. That is a specific finish on the rear bridge, not a description of every gold component in the watch. The sapphire back also makes the movement easier to inspect than a conventional closed gold case would allow. Armin Strom says it makes 97 per cent of the calibre's components in-house, a striking figure for an independent maker, though the percentage alone is less engaging than the visible relationship between the bridges, barrel and plate.

A modest case for an ambitious calibre

The 18-carat rose-gold case measures 38mm across and 9.38mm high. Those proportions keep the watch within a dress-watch footprint even though there is a great deal happening on the front. Anti-reflective sapphire covers the dial and the back, and Armin Strom specifies 5 ATM water resistance. That rating is useful reassurance for ordinary contact with water, but the precious-metal case and nubuck strap make the watch's intended setting fairly clear.

Inside, the AMW21 has a motor barrel and a 100-hour power reserve. It runs at 25,200 vibrations per hour, or 3.5Hz, with 21 jewels and 135 components. The long reserve is practical if this sits among several watches rather than being worn every day; it also gives the movement's exposed architecture a mechanical purpose beyond the view. Armin Strom lists the calibre at 33.5mm across and 4.2mm thick, which explains how much of the 38mm case can be occupied by the mechanism.

A grey nubuck leather strap with grey stitching and an 18-carat rose-gold pin buckle completes the watch. The muted leather prevents the gold from extending into every visible surface. That matters here: a matching gold bracelet would change the whole proposition, moving it from a study of fine movement construction towards an exercise in sheer material weight. The strap makes the unusual dial and bridges the focus, while the buckle quietly repeats the case metal when the watch is fastened.

Armin Strom Tribute³ Au750 pricing and availability

Armin Strom's 2 October 2026 press release introduces the Tribute³ Au750 as an edition of eight pieces. The exact product page identifies reference RG26-TRI.AU and lists CHF 69,000. It offers an order option, while Australian pricing and local delivery details are not published on that page. The watch is supplied on the grey nubuck strap with an 18-carat rose-gold buckle; the published Swiss price is the figure to use rather than a converted Australian estimate.

Eight watches and CHF 69,000 make this a very narrow proposition, and it would be easy to dismiss it as gold for gold's sake. The appeal lies elsewhere. Armin Strom has put the expensive material into elements that explain how its movement is organised, then allowed the wearer to see those elements at work. The warm dial and cool grey plate could have been enough on their own, but the solid-gold bridges give the watch an internal logic. That is a stronger reason for precious metal than simply making the case shine.