Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Colour-Changing ArtyA Tiny Purity Tourbillon Chameleon
Space, light and colour… Chromatic alchemy is a unique feature to make an impact.
With ArtyA, Yvan Arpa has formed a truly unique vision of watchmaking. There is no doubt that ArtyA watches are spectacular pieces and their design can be polarising. But ArtyA brings something different and fascinating to the watch industry, because of the brand’s capacity to think out of the box and to venture beyond mainstream. A case in point, the ArtyA Tiny Purity Tourbillon Chameleon stands out with its surprising sapphire case that has the ability to change colour when exposed to different light. And even in a magazine proudly named MONOCHROME, this chromatic magic trick really made a serious impression.
The colour-changing capacity of chameleons has long bewildered willing people. Well, with ArtyA, watches can now also change colours. A world-first in the watch industry (first presented in 2021), the lab-grown Nano-Sapphire case of the ArtyA Purity Tourbillon Chameleon reveals one colour at first, when under natural light, but when exposed to artificial light (6500 Kelvin or more), it instantly changes to another colour. And it’s quite a visual effect! The material is a unique, high-tech, polycrystalline, tinted synthetic sapphire that undergoes a series of treatments to enhance its optical properties. Here, the material is treated at the molecular level to enable it to react to ambient light, while always guaranteeing absolute clarity.
The newest “Tiny” version of the sapphire case of the ArtyA purity is 39mm in diameter, which is 7mm smaller than its 46mm predecessor. If it remains an attention grabber, its versatile size will suit most wrists. This size reduction was made possible as the architectural movement inside the ArtyA Tiny Purity Tourbillon Chameleon is a redesigned version of the brand’s twin-barrel tourbillon movement.
Developed and manufactured with high-end movement specialist Telos in La Chaux-de-Fonds, it is the finishing touch to this mechanical sculpture consisting of watch components, space, shadow, light and colours. Revealing its inner workings in transparency, its horizontally symmetrical design features circular concentric bridges. On the right-hand side, we have its two barrels and the offset time indication. The large one-minute tourbillon, which is 17mm in diameter, performs its captivating choreography on the other side at 9 o’clock. ArtyA has opted for a flying tourbillon, a skewed construction where the tourbillon cage is held on one side only. Its frequency is of 4Hz and the power reserve of the movement is of 72 hours when it is fully wound.
The possibilities are countless and the Artya Tiny Purity Tourbillon Chameleon comes in a variety of colours: blue to green, green to yellow, yellow to orange and more… The watch is worn on a leather strap with a pin buckle. So far, each of these has been a unique piece and the retail price is set at CHF 155,000. Last but not least, a specialist in high-quality watch cases made of sapphire, ArtyA also offers Nano-Sapphire bicolour cases tinted in the mass.
For more information, please visit www.artya.com.
2 responses
Gimmicky waste of money.
As is anything other than the cheapest possible watch that tells the time. On the other hand it’s a fabulous example of the watchmakers art and ability. If we only ever bought the most practical example of only the things we actually need the world would be a much less interesting place.