Press release
The wonderful world of unique timepieces in the "Luxury Watchmaking" sector commands insanely unaffordable prices in the real world. Such watches remain the privilege of the exceptional few, not to mention the exceptionally wealthy few.
But it took the imagination of Yvan Arpa and his team, or rather teams, to rise successfully to the challenge of creating "unique pieces" at mass-production prices.
The idea was to bring together the finest, supremely qualified master watchmakers, accustomed to working independently, with meticulous attention to detail and an eye to tradition, namely "Team 1".
While "Team 2", however, was carefully hand-picked from among those Artists drawn by Conceptual Art, fired by an all-consuming passion for combining the often somewhat contradictory, if not mutually exclusive, Art and Technology.
The result of this collision of ideas was a resounding success: without suffering loss of quality, or comprising the product's luxury appeal, the price squeeze immediately led to the birth of a legendary object.
After an interval of reflection/implementation and the creation of a master team, its craftsmen all pulling together to give form to the craziest of ideas, the dream became a reality, blurring the limits between the possible and the impossible, the one sometimes overlapping the other, much to the surprise of even the creators themselves.
The following details will give collectors and watch passionates alike a clearer insight of the techniques involved and of the Art incorporated therein!
But what truly stretches the boundaries of the imagination, what is more incredible still in this collection of unique one-off ArtyA pieces, their case having been literally struck by lightning, is that the Quadri-rotor squelettes have all been hand-crafted in their entirety.
We are in the presence of a genuine work of collective inspiration, in which conceptual Art (the lightning used to shape the case, the skeleton-work and hand-crafted dials) and the work of the fine watchmaker (rotor, hands, movements) come together to create an exclusive, one-of-a-kind objet d'art at a very affordable price.
1) "The ArtyA Team of master watchmakers" has:
a) meticulously blanked 3 oscillating weights ballasted by pieces of copper wire, each one lovingly wound by hand like an electrical coil, in order to increase the inertia of the main oscillating weight to which they are attached
b) painstakingly shaped the hands, twisting the copper wire to resemble a form reminiscent of the first electrical elements
c) minutely decorated the movement 2671 in accordance with fine watchmaking codes (circular graining and Côtes de Genève).
2) "The Contemporary Art team" has:
a) radically changed the look of a conventional watch case through the use of lightning, which, by means of thermal combustion, has brought about a unique transformation of colour and form.
b) the miniature dials are coated with filaments of gold leaf combined with pigments in a manual process unique in the field of watchmaking
c) the space between the movement and the case is a genuine example of skeleton
decoration in which our master jeweller-watchmakers explore 3 themes:
i) the Quadri rotor électrique, a nod to electricity with its diodes, elements and other coils, powerfully evocative of the accoutrements required to tame the power of lightning
ii) the Quadri rotor à filaments, a homage to the copper wires rampant throughout the world of electricity
iii) the Quadri rotor bijoux, in which precious or semi-precious stones, seemingly suspended, appear to float amid the skeleton-work like a constellation in the heavens, thus harnessing the full power of light to which they are subjected
Tesla Squelette Quadri-Rotor
1/1 Unique Piece
Movement: Self-winding movement entirely manufactured in Switzerland
Power reserve: 42 hours
Jewelling: 25 jewels
Case*: 316 steel Silver-coloured
"Coup de foudre" Collection: cases engraved, mutilated, tortured, “lightning-struck” 100,000 volts, 200,000 volts, 500,000 volts or 1,000,000 volts
Diameter: Ø47mm
Crystal: Sapphire
Back: Open, fitted with a sapphire crystal
Water resistance: 50 metres
Bracelet: “Alzavel waterproof” treated leather and hand-sewn high-tech rubber, or “crazy frog” tanned cane toad
Buckle: Treated steel pin buckle
Guarantee: 24 months
*Depending on the mood of the moment, the cases in the lightning-struck “Coup de foudre” collection undergo therma
