Picture a watch where the most expensive, most complicated part of the mechanism sits in plain view, right in the middle of the dial, and the hands that normally live there have been removed entirely. That is the idea behind the Purity Wavy Central Tourbillon, the latest creation from Swiss watchmaker ArtyA. Instead of hiding its engineering, the brand has built a 40mm sapphire watch designed to show it off.
The new Purple edition pairs a deep violet sapphire dial with a 19mm tourbillon positioned dead center, visible through a fully transparent sapphire case. It is a striking departure from how most watches are built, and understanding why takes a quick detour into what a tourbillon actually does.
What Is a Tourbillon, and Why Does It Matter
A tourbillon is a mechanical component inside a watch movement that constantly rotates the escapement and balance wheel, the parts responsible for keeping time. The rotation cancels out small timing errors caused by gravity, which otherwise pull on these parts differently depending on the watch’s position on the wrist. It is one of the hardest complications to build correctly, which is why tourbillon watches have long been treated as a benchmark of watchmaking skill rather than a everyday feature.
Most brands tuck the tourbillon off to one side of the dial, near the 6 o’clock position, as a small accent. ArtyA has done the opposite. The PUR-T4 caliber inside the Purity Wavy Central Tourbillon places an oversized 19mm tourbillon directly in the middle of the watch face, making it the focal point rather than a side detail. The movement was nominated for the 2024 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, one of the industry’s most respected awards.
No Hands, No Problem
Removing the central hands sounds like a strange design choice until you see why it was necessary. With a tourbillon this large sitting at the center of the dial, there was simply no room left for a traditional hour and minute hand setup. ArtyA’s solution is a pair of peripheral markers that read the time from around the edge of the dial instead of the middle, a first for the brand’s automatic movements.
The caliber runs at 4 Hz, meaning the balance wheel oscillates 28,800 times per hour, a demanding pace for any tourbillon and unusually fast for one of this size. Two barrels work together to deliver a 72-hour power reserve, which is what lets the watch keep running for three full days on a single wind.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Case diameter | 40mm (43mm also available) |
| Case material | Sapphire crystal, clear or NanoSaphir color-changing |
| Case thickness | 14.5mm |
| Water resistance | 30 meters |
| Movement | ArtyA PUR-T4, automatic |
| Frequency | 4 Hz (28,800 vph) |
| Power reserve | 72 hours |
| Jewels | 36 |
| Components | 335 |
| Strap | Nubuck leather with ArtyA pin buckle |
| Edition size | Limited to 9 pieces, or unique 1-of-1 |
| Price | CHF 135,000 (approximately Rs 1.6 crore) |
A Case Made Entirely of Sapphire
The case itself is arguably as ambitious as the movement inside it. Rather than using sapphire crystal only for the front window, as most watches do, ArtyA has built the entire 40mm case out of sapphire. This material is prized in watchmaking for being scratch-resistant and completely transparent, letting light pass through in a way that steel or titanium never could.
For the Purple edition, that sapphire case houses a dial cut from genuine colored sapphire with an engraved chapter ring filled with Super-LumiNova, a light-emitting coating commonly used for glow-in-the-dark hour markers. The deep violet tone gives the watch its name and sets it apart from the brand’s other Central Tourbillon variants, which include a color-shifting NanoSaphir version that changes from amber to green depending on the angle of light.
Where This Watch Fits
The Purity Wavy Central Tourbillon is not a mass-production release. ArtyA caps each variant at 9 pieces or offers it as a unique 1-of-1 commission, and the watches are sold through the brand’s Geneva boutique and select retail partners rather than through conventional online marketplaces. At CHF 135,000, this sits firmly in independent haute horlogerie territory, alongside brands that build a handful of watches a year rather than thousands.
For Indian buyers curious about mechanical tourbillons without the seven-figure price tag, more accessible options have started appearing closer to home, including tourbillon watches from Indian retailers priced well under Rs 1 lakh. ArtyA’s release is a reminder of what the complication looks like when cost is not a constraint at all.
Bottom Line
The Purity Wavy Central Tourbillon Purple is less a watch you check the time on and more a piece of visible engineering you wear on your wrist. By pulling the tourbillon into the center and rebuilding the entire case around it in sapphire, ArtyA has made the mechanism the whole story. Whether that trade-off, no central hands, minimal water resistance, and a price tag most people will never encounter, appeals to you likely depends on how much you value watching a movement work rather than simply reading it.