An Ultra-Rare Complication Featuring Delicate Hand-Made Decorations: The ArtyA Genève Complexity Métiers d’Art
There is no shame in admitting you’ve never heard of something. You know the tourbillon is a little mechanical anti-gravity device, so to speak. The cônillon, however, is very rare. It is a tourbillon regulator with a tilted balance that follows a conical path rather than a conventional flat plane. The concept traces back to the experimental work of the American watchmaker Andrew Holden Potter around 1860. Only recently has it surfaced in contemporary high horology. Earlier this year, ArtyA brought the largely forgotten principle into the spotlight with its Complexity collection, where two inclined regulators can be positioned opposite each other and linked by a central differential. Now it’s time to release the 9-piece ArtyA Genève Complexity Métiers d’Art limited edition. A sapphire watch with every surface of the movement and dial showing a plethora of hand-made decorations.
During this year’s Watches and Wonders, ArtyA revealed the Complexity, the world’s first watch featuring two tilted tourbillons or cônillons connected by a central differential, in transparent sapphire and Pigeon’s Blood Ruby. The ArtyA Complexity Métiers d’Art still features the fascinating tilted and linked tourbillons at 12 and 6 o’clock and turns up the decorative side of watchmaking by adding a plethora of handmade decorations. Inside the curved, 42mm-wide, 48mm-long, and 13mm-thick (14.1mm-thick measured at the top of the two domes) sapphire case, the decorations on both the dial and the movement add another visual dimension to an already spectacular watch.
Visual and technical spectacle guaranteed: Introducing the ArtyA Genève Complexity Métiers d’Art
ArtyA is not a brand that blends in. The Genevan brand, founded by Yvan Arpa, produces provocative, unconventional watch art, as a visit to ArtyA’s website will show you. The Complexity Métiers d’Art is both technically and aesthetically provocative. Not in a harsh way, though. The flowing lines and shapes of the case cut entirely from sapphire prevent that. And the decorations on the dial and the fully visible movement have a certain softness that tells of artisanal craftsmanship.
The finishing of the Complexity Métiers d’Art is on another level. ArtyA took the task of finishing this watch extremely seriously, with virtually every visible surface receiving a different treatment. For instance, the main plate features hand-applied perlage around the differential zone and on the flanks, finished with a delicate matte cabron buff (a special surface-finishing technique). The minute train bridge on the dial side combines fine sandblasting with a hand-engraved logo and scratch finishing, while its edges are hand-beveled.
The barrel bridge receives perhaps the most varied treatment, including hand-hammered lower surfaces, hand shot-blasted upper surfaces, hand beveling, a hand-engraved logo, and carbon-buffed flanks, with the Swiss Made inscription applied by laser.
Even the numbered “Complexity” plate is hand-engraved and beveled, with drawn strokes adding another layer of texture. Furthermore, the indexes received hand beveling, cabron-buffed flanks, and finely sandblasted upper surfaces before being finished in rhodium. ArtyA made a clear distinction between decoration and information. The laser engraving covers the practical side of things. It informs you that the watch is Swiss Made, gives you the jewel count, and features on the power-reserve scale. Everything else is done by hand.
Two cônillons for your viewing pleasure
The fully transparent, curved sapphire case takes more than 120 hours of diamond machining to produce. And after that, 140 hours of polishing to complete. And it can only be done in Switzerland. The result is an unobstructed view of not only the decorations, but also the watch’s complicated technical heart.
Pay special attention to the two domes acting as magnifiers over the spinning cônillons. For a haute horlogerie connoisseur looking through a magnifying glass and seeing a cônillon travel its conical trajectory, compensating for the effects of gravity across several vertical positions simultaneously, is a real joy.
However impressive and breathtaking the spinning cônillons at 12 and 6 o’clock (with their connecting differential) might be, they also serve a practical purpose. The differential distributes the barrel’s energy in perfect balance between the two regulators. This leads to a kinematic averaging of their rates. They achieve chronometric optimization through 360 degrees, which neither tourbillon alone could achieve. Impressive is also the speed at which they turn. Instead of a traditional 60-second tourbillon, the cônillons inside the Complexity Métiers d’Art complete their rotation in 30 seconds. They do so in offset directions, offering an intense kaleidoscopic micromechanical spectacle.
Parts and specs
Contrary to what you might think, the proprietary Complexity-01 caliber is remarkably robust. The movement offers shock resistance that surpasses that of devices such as the gyrotourbillon. The hand-winding movement is the result of close collaboration with Purtec Sàrl in Vallorbe. It comprises 287 parts, operates at 3Hz (21,600 vibrations per hour), and provides a power reserve of 50 hours.
The Complexity Métiers d’Art will be produced on order with a maximum of just nine individually numbered pieces. Each watch comes on a rubber strap secured by an ArtyA folding clasp. With a completely transparent sapphire case, the watch costs CHF 190,000 excluding taxes. In case transparent sapphire is too ordinary to your liking, you can also order the watch in the more unusual pigeon-blood ruby colorway. It does raise the price to CHF 220,000 without taxes.
If you want to learn more about the impressive Complexity Métiers d’Art, including the price and availability, please visit ArtyA.com.
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