hen it comes to drama and visual intricacy, perhaps no other complication can match the tourbillon escapement, especially when paired with a skeletonized movement. The added spectacle of a sapphire case can bring such a design into true horological shock-and-awe territory, and for its latest release boutique haute horlogerie brand ArtyA has achieved exactly that. With airy, dramatic bridges that take the form of concentric rings, this new ArtyA design makes striking use of negative space to keep visual focus squarely on its oversized in-house tourbillon. Newly nominated for the 2021 Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Genève in the hotly contested Tourbillon category, the new ArtyA Purity Tourbillon delivers one of the most thoughtful and minimal skeleton tourbillon presentations from a boutique brand in recent memory.
September 19, 2021 by Sean Lorentzen
Made of pure sapphire without any metal sub-chassis or lugs to increase rigidity, the case of the ArtyA Purity Tourbillon is focused squarely on allowing an unimpeded view of the movement within. Even the cushion crown at 3 o’clock is sapphire crystal, with a dramatically sloping form. At 46mm across, this case should be far from inconspicuous on the wrist, but given the material and the skeleton design this would likely attract attention at any size. The overall design of the case is elementally simple in images, with wide tapering lugs, slab case sides, and a narrow bezel. As one might expect from an all-sapphire case design however, the ArtyA Purity Tourbillon does suffer on the durability front with only a weak 30 meter water resistance rating.
Strictly speaking, there is no dial on the ArtyA Purity Tourbillon. Everything visible within the sapphire case is part of the movement, and the one concession to functionality the Purity Tourbillon provides is a set of simple rose gold dauphine hands. There are no indices, scales, or chapter rings to distract from the spectacle of its skeleton movement, and while reading the time might be difficult the end result of this commitment to aesthetics is stunning in initial images. The narrow skeletonized black mainplate and bridges all take the form of concentric circles, from the outer ring attaching the movement to the case to the miniature layered rings supporting the gear train hidden on the caseback side. This circles-within-circles look leaves wide swaths of negative space to enhance the movement’s floating effect, while drawing the eye organically to the twin mainspring barrels at 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock along with the 9 o’clock tourbillon. These three elements are carefully proportioned to visually counterweight one another, creating a light and finely balanced overall appearance. The tourbillon itself is a massive 16.2mm across with a brightly polished three-pronged skeleton cage to both draw attention and allow a clear view of the oscillation below. The Avengers-esque ArtyA “A” emblem at 3 o’clock keeps the modernist flair of the overall design as well.
Beyond the bold aesthetics of the ArtyA Purity Tourbillon’s handwound skeleton tourbillon movement, this in-house powerplant also provides robust performance and high torque thanks to its paired twin mainspring barrels. Power reserve is a hefty 70 hours at 28,800 vph. ArtyA pairs this stylized design with an unorthodox medium gray alligator leather strap with stark black lowlights.
