ArtyA go back to the future with the very 90s yet very futuristic Purity Wavy HMS Mirror
Tom Austin- Geneva-based artisanal watchmakers ArtyA present their latest creation, the Purity Wavy HMS Mirror, expanding the Purity line to include an all-new watch with an organically shaped, ultra-light titanium case.
- The watch features a unique mirrored case back, in place of a fully see-through design, showing reflections of the movement, creating a bold, striking appearance and producing an illusion of significant depth.
- Powered by the hand-finished, in-house Stairway to Heaven HMS hand-wound calibre, this limited edition watch features a twin-barrel powertrain with polished mainsprings to achieve a minimum of 72 hours of power reserve.
If there were a list of high-end, artisanal, Swiss watch brands that are severely underrated, ArtyA would be pretty high up there. They seem to disappear into the noise of all the major brands dropping release after release, until once or twice a year, they drop by with a banger. Their latest creation is the Purity Wavy HMS Mirror, a contemporary dress watch built around its stunning “Stairway to Heaven” calibre, with some rather unique features. Don’t worry, I’ll avoid the Led Zeppelin puns this time around, unlike my previous Purity Stairway to Heaven piece…
Designed by Jérémie Arpa (son of legendary Swiss watch designer Yvan Arpa, of Hublot and Jacob & Co. fame), ArtyA’s latest release features a unique, organic shape that evokes memories of some of the coolest 90s watches from the likes of Seiko and Oakley – like the Arctura Kinetic or the iconic Crush – but thankfully, it lacks any sort of 90s cringe.
At 40mm wide and 13mm thick, it’s no dinky dresser, but it’s not overly big either, considering the category this watch falls into. Many of these high-end show pieces can be comically oversized, so it’s good to see ArtyA sticking to their usual recipe here. However, the case does appear slightly bigger than it is, thanks to the bezel-less design, with no break between the edge of the crystal and the outer edge of the case, which has received a flowing, high-polished bevel.
The main line of this particular watch is available in microbead-frosted grade 5 titanium, either with a transparent or black DLC coating to reduce the chance of picking up scratches. The Purity Wavy HMS Mirror is also available, at far greater cost, with transparent, hued or Nanosapphire sapphire crystal cases, but in honesty, there are plenty of other watches in the ArtyA catalogue if you want that option, and I think sculpted titanium is the model of choice for this line.
Practicality is taken care of thanks to a screw-in case back and crown, and a domed sapphire crystal shaped to match the contour of the case. The crystal, not only treated with an anti-reflective coating, is laser-engraved with a minute track to give it that ultra-cool floating look. Thanks to these, the watch is water-resistant to 50 meters, which is plenty for a watch like this.
ArtyA don’t just stop at interesting case design and drop an off-the-shelf movement in, far from it. The Purity Wavy HMS Mirror is driven by an all-new in-house Stairway to Heaven calibre. Manually wound, it uses polished mainsprings in twin barrels to put out an impressive 72 hours of power reserve, and the polishing optimises friction within the barrels to increase accuracy over the spread of the power reserve, which is a nerdy, but very cool little detail.
Regulation is taken care of by inertia blocks on the balance wheel, which is unusually mounted at a 9 o’clock position, and everything has been painstakingly hand finished, from the hand chamfers on the bridges to the frosted finishing on the suspended escapement. Overall, the movement’s a marvel to look at, even if it does somewhat hamper dial legibility.
The dial is extraordinarily minimal, with tiny hour and minute markers laser-engraved into the crystal, so technically there’s no actual dial at all. The hands are brushed and diamond-polished by hand, but the real showpiece of the dial area is the case back. Instead of a typical, transparent case back that lets you see straight through the movement, the Purity Wavy HMS Mirror features a one-way mirror with the reflective side facing up. This presents a barrage of reflections which trick the eye into thinking the dial area has just endless depth, and I can’t think of another watch I’ve seen which uses this trickery. It’s a unique addition that not only looks great, but ties in with the space-age look of the watch.
The watch comes with either an alligator or dark nubuck leather strap, fixed with a pin buckle, which can be chosen with a DLC coating or without. Another nice touch is that it uses curved spring bars, to follow the contour of the case, so the straps look great on it… However, I can’t help but wonder what a full titanium bracelet would look like on this watch. The case shape would morph beautifully into a curved bracelet and complete the look well, so I’m surprised at this price point that it’s not something that ArtyA offers (yet).
ArtyA have released the Purity Wavy HMS Mirror with a focus on the titanium case as a refined option for optimum lightness and comfort, so I find it a little strange that they want to also offer the watch in sapphire as well. It would make more sense to stick solely with the titanium, but really run with it and finish off the watch with a full titanium bracelet. Additionally, I feel like while I’m sure the watch is extremely light and comfortable, the design, to me, is more about pulling inspiration from futuristic-looking watches of the past, and giving it a contemporary spin with the “ArtyA” touch. I actually think the watch achieves that really well, and they’ve come up with a unique-looking, interesting watch in the process.
ArtyA Purity Wavy HMS Mirror pricing and availability
The ArtyA Purity Wavy HMS Mirror is available now directly from ArtyA and is a limited edition of 99 pieces. Price: CHF25,900 (titanium), CHF44,900 (sapphire crystal variations)
| Brand | ArtyA Geneve |
| Model | Purity Wavy HMS Mirror |
| Case Dimensions | 40mm (D) x 13mm (T) |
| Case Material | Grade 5 titanium or sapphire crystal |
| Water Resistance | 50 meters |
| Crystal(s) | Domed sapphire front, sapphire crystal with one-way mirror effect on caseback |
| Dial | Open |
| Strap | Alligator or nubuck leather strap with pin buckle |
| Movement | Purity HMS, in-house, manual-winding |
| Power Reserve | 72 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds |
| Availability | Limited to 99 pieces |
| Price | CHF25,900 (titanium) CHF44,900 (sapphire) |