Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Artya Purity Stairway to Heaven Wavy HMS Sapphire
An architectural openworked movement beating in a full sapphire case, this is the Artya Purity Stairway to Heaven Wavy.
With ArtyA, the brand’s founder Yvan Arpa has formed a unique vision of watchmaking characterized by great creativity and bold designs. Over the past months though, the brand has focused on the production of more restrained, less polarizing skeleton movements, often housed in transparent sapphire crystal cases, forming the Purity collection. Today, we are taking a look at sapphire versions of the Purity Stairway to Heaven, with an openworked movement, and the Wavy case design created by Yvan’s son, Jérémie Arpa.
It must be said that in recent years Yvan Arpa seems to have toned down the craziness a little and is shifting towards a more puristic approach to watchmaking. Yet, in his true sense of style, his latest watches still challenge the visual senses to the max, most often thanks to (nano-)sapphire crystal cases. Watches like the Tiny Purity Tourbillon Chameleon or AquaSaphir lure you in with unbridled transparency and vibrant colours. But even simpler watches like the rather clever Depth Gauge defy tradition and carry Arpa’s signature style of holding nothing back. The collections are often quite varied but produced in low volumes, giving Yvan Arpa total creative freedom.
The time-only Purity Stairway to Heaven has appeared in different materials such as steel, ceramic or carbon. As it’s often the case with Artya, the sapphire models are available in multiple variations with different colours for the sapphire crystal cases and various sets of hands. Some versions even feature colour-changing sapphire cases! At 40mm in diameter, the round, transparent, full sapphire crystal case has a thickness of 13mm. Dubbed wavy, the organic, almost liquid design is reminiscent of ocean waves with its soft domed surfaces and undulating curves. It provides an open window on every detail of the manual-winding movement.
Developed and manufactured with high-end movement specialist Telos in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the architectural openworked movement reveals its inner workings in complete transparency. This proprietary movement relies on two parallel barrels placed around the crown and an intriguing, suspended 4Hz escapement, referred to as the Stairway to Heaven, surmounted by a bridge composed of three arced and hand-bevelled tiers on the left. The twin barrels reveal their springs which can give an idea of the winding state, and they provide a consistent driving force with a 72-hour power reserve.
Originally available with off-centred time indications, the Stairway to Heaven Wavy has central sword-shaped hours and minutes hands and a central sweeping second hand. The hour and minute markers are laser-engraved on the inner side of the sapphire crystal. In classic Artya style, there is a wide choice of leather straps, and you even have different options for the pin buckle. The Purity Stairway to Heaven HMS Wavy is released in different limited editions and retails from CHF 44,900.
While Artya’s watches are certainly not for everyone, it’s impossible to ignore the creative vision on display. There’s genuine emotion poured into each and every watch, and with innovations like colour-shifting nano-sapphire crystal, there’s no limit to the ways you can express yourself. And in all honesty, that resonates quite well with us!
For more information, please visit Artya.com.
