Introducing the Armin Strom Gumball 3000 models: the Double Barrel, Tourbillon and Manual

Armin Strom teams up with the Gumball 3000 Rally, a rally that covers 3000 miles (what’s in a name) on two continents (Europe and the US) in only seven days. The brand, mostly known for their skeletonized timepieces, introduce three commemorative timepieces, each numbered so that the 120 Gumball drivers can claim their start number engraved into the case back of one of the Armin Strom Gumball 3000 models. Here are the Armin Strom Double Barrel 3000, the Tourbillon Gumball 30000 and the Manual Gumball 3000.

What is the Gumball 3000 Rally? 

Maybe, when you’re old enough, you have seen the movie Canonball Run. The movie, featuring Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, and even Jacky Chan who plays the role of one of the rally drivers, is about a crazy, wild and illegal rally across America. The Gumball 3000 rally could well be inspired by that movie (or one of its sequels), however it is legal (as long as the participating super cars honour the speed limits.) The rally starts in Stockhom (Sweden), goes to Olso (Norway), Copenhagen (Denmark), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and than the participants fly to Reno, continuing onto San Fransico, Los Angeles and ending in Las Vegas. In other words, a lot of fun!

Check their website for lots of photos of the participating (super)cars.

Now the watches! Armin Strom is the official watch partner of this year’s Gumball 3000 Rally, and, as said, introduce three commemorative pieces for the Gumball Rally. The one that mostly caught our attention, because of the skeletonized dial and movement, is the Double Barrel Gumball 3000. Like every Armin Strom, it features an in-house developed, manufactured and hand-finished movement. The particular piece has the Armin Strom calibre ARM12-GB that boasts a 10-days power reserve.

The manual winding movement, is quite similar to that in the Skeleton Pure Water and Fire, however due to the lack of a power reserve indicator on this Double Barrel Gumball 3000, it has two extra days of power reserve. The power reserve indicator requires a differential gear that costs some energy, and to be on the safe side, Armin Strom claimed only 8 days of power reserve for the Skeleton Pure Water and Fire.

This numbered edition sets itself also apart by differently designed bridges, which have not been skeletonized. They do feature black carbon inlays and golden trim lines, reminiscent of the old John Player F1 race cars (well, for those who remember those.) The dial ring is also black and comes with applied hour markers at 12, 3 and 6, and there are gold-color numerals and silver stripes for the minute markers. The Gumball 3000 logo is inside the small second indication at 9 o’clock. The 43.4 mm (diameter) by 13.0 mm (thickness) titanium case has been PVD coated, and the sapphire crystal and case back are treated with anti-reflective coating. 

The Double Barrel Gumball 3000 comes on a black leather strap, with carbon inlay, and rubber edges with white stitching, which is similar to the Racing Gravity that we reviewed recently. 

There are two more models; the Armin Strom Manual Gumball 3000 and the Tourbillon Gumball 3000. The Manual features another Armin Strom manufacture movement, calibre AMW11-GB, that has a 5-day power reserve. The small seconds at the 9 o’clock position features this year’s Gumball 3000 logo and just around it, the main plate is engraved with playing cars suits, as a reference for the rally’s finishing point in LAs Vegas. The main plate’s back is engraved with 2015 Gumball 3000, 17th anniversary edition, Stockholm to Las Vegas.

This model shows the distinct Armin Strom feature, with a slightly off-centre time indications. This can be seen on all Armin Strom models, however on the new skeleton models with sapphire index ring, like the four Skeleton Pure models and the Skeleton One Week, this is less obvious.

Last, but certainly not least, is the spectacular Tourbillon Gumball 3000, which is executed in 18K rose gold, and features a manual winding tourbillon movement with a 10-days power reserve. The in-house movement, calibre ATC11-GB (yes, indeed, GB affix stands for Gumball) features a more distinct Gumball 3000 sign, printed on the index ring around the tourbillon.

Like the other two models, the Tourbillon Gumball measures 43.40 mm in diameter and is 13.00 mm thick. The sapphire crystals (on both sides) are treated with anti reflective coating, so you will have a very good view on the beautiful skeletonized movements and all its technical beauty.

More info about these Armin Strom Gumball 3000 models on the Armin Strom website and you can find everything about the rally (and the stunning cars) on the Gumball 3000 website.