ombat sports memorabilia, a gleaming motorbike, skulls and wolves, all evoking ArtyA’s most rebellious side, are still very much present when one ventures into the brand’s basement workshop in Meinier, set in the tranquil Geneva countryside.

At first glance, nothing appears to have changed since our last visit a few years ago. It is only on opening the cases of the latest creations that the journey they have made becomes apparent.

The Arpa family and the team from the independent brand at the GPHG.

The first thing that strikes you is the difference in size: the dimensions of the new collections barely exceed 40 mm, whereas earlier models were designed to adorn the largest wrists, from the Urals to the Sierra Madre. These watches also stand out for the finesse of their features and the delicacy of their transparency, now a hallmark of Artya, which have made sapphire one of their specialties, notably innovating with a material that changes colour depending on the light.

The first thing that strikes you is the difference in size: the dimensions of the new collections barely exceed 40 mm, whereas earlier models were designed to adorn the largest wrists, from the Urals to the Sierra Madre.

The Purity, cornerstone of the renewal

Even the names of the collections themselves reflect this pursuit of formal purity: Purity, the flagship line, along with Aqua, Art and Gears, which together form the new backbone of the brand. “I am no longer at the age to shine, but rather to enlighten,” says Yvan Arpa, now surrounded by his two sons. “The new generation sets the tone. And I myself have become more zen, perhaps less divisive!”

The Purity model with a central tourbillon, equipped with a proprietary movement, the new face of the brand. It is also its first automatic manufacture calibre.

The Purity, designed by Jérémy Arpa and developed by Stanislas Arpa “with a superb team of suppliers”, is “the watch of this generational handover”. The first is a designer, the second a micromechanical engineer. As for his daughter, she is currently studying cinema – perhaps with a view to one day developing the brand’s image?

The Curvy Purity Tourbillon NanoSaphir Emerald model, designed by Jérémie Arpa, was presented for the brand’s first participation in Dubai Watch Week.

Judging by the ingenuity and elegance of Artya’s new line, the handover is already a success. This is a style that is particularly evident in the case design. Of course, if one asks for a Son of a Gun, the father’s iconic model featuring real bullets, it can still be found in the brand’s many drawers overflowing with creativity, or in the back room of the boutique in central Geneva. However, the display window is now reserved for his children’s Purity: less divisive in its symbolism, and in its form.

To celebrate its 15th anniversary and its official entry into the Watches & Wonders exhibition, Artya presented the Purity Stairway To Heaven model, with a diameter of 40 mm. Its escapement is placed in suspension in a vacuum, to offer an aerial spectacle.

Moreover, it is not merely symbolic: behind this new line lies substantial R&D effort. “We have developed five in-house calibres, designing the movement from A to Z; and all the models in the Purity collection are equipped with them,” explains Arpa. “We have innovated, for example, by integrating regulation pylons for casing, or by sandblasting the components with cast iron beads.” The Purity collection is offered at prices ranging from 25,000 to 200,000 francs.

“I am no longer at the age to shine, but rather to enlighten. The new generation sets the tone. And I myself have become more zen, perhaps less divisive!”

Materials laboratory

That said, it is difficult to speak of model references in the conventional sense at Artya, which produce almost exclusively unique or limited pieces. Paradoxically, the brand has always sought to be democratic in its approach, simultaneously offering more accessible models equipped with third-party movements, such as the skeletonised calibres of the Gears chronographs. At the same time, it continues to produce watches for the Black Belt Watch brand, an entry-level range inspired by the founder’s dedicated practice of karate.

This model is part of a special Aqua Carbon Divers series of 99 unique pieces, carved from a high-tech composite material made from a combination of pieces of carbon and a coloured resin matrix.

The same approach applies across the board when it comes to the use of sapphire, which is not limited to the high-end Purity collection, but is also evident, for example, in the Aqua diving models. “I wanted to create a sapphire model that would be water-resistant to 80 metres,” notes Arpa.

The Dome Earth model with its Crysocholla dial.

Lapis lazuli, blued meteorite, moissanite, coral: the brand is a living creative laboratory for a multitude of materials, both for cases and for dials. “We test things; they may work, or they may fail, but we always push boundaries.”

“The wind has changed”

The brand, which employs around fifteen people, used to have its own case workshop but now prefers to rely on an external network. The experiments can still be seen in the Art collection, on which Yvan Arpa’s wife, Dominique Arpa-Cirpka, known for her butterfly wing dials, also works.

A model from the Art collection, illustrating the brand’s rich creative palette.

A true family affair, then, which managed to rebound after the closure of its longstanding Russian market. “Our work with sapphire and innovative materials, at unbeatable prices, has opened up a new clientele for us across the globe,” Arpa states. It has also brought new distributors, such as the venerable German house Wempe, itself a family-run business. ArtyA, which will soon have some 70 representatives worldwide, also continues to supply several Middle Eastern courts with “special watchmaking products”.

Artya recently presented a wide range of chronographs in the Gears collection, made from innovative materials.

In the end, this strategic and creative pivot was made possible by the arrival of the new generation and a desire to continue offering highly emotional watchmaking, but in a different way. This is how a company regenerates itself, by shedding its skin to blend better into a new context. “I practise meditation; I have found a certain personal harmony,” Arpa confides in conclusion. “The Purity embodies this new serenity. The wind has changed. So much the better, for I find great pleasure in it, surrounded by my loved ones!”

A unique piece equipped with a tourbillon minute repeater movement, developed in homage to MHC and the late Pierre Favre, the Chorus Minute Repeater model is distinguished by its new curved upper glass.