Strumming The Right Notes: Introducing The New ArtyA Guitar Only Watch 2021
Editor’s note: For nearly a decade now we have curiously anticipated the Only Watch Auction. The 2021 edition doesn’t disappoint! While watches earlier this year had a green theme, this year’s Auction watches seem to have an orange theme. Following the releases from Watches & Wonders 2021, today we present the new ArtyA Guitar Only Watch 2021. Here’s our preview and the Gut Reaction Review (Grr…). For our standard detailed hands-on reviews, please head to our dedicated reviews section here.
Gut Reaction
After covering ANDERSEN Genève for the first time, we are now looking at another brand that has been on my radar for a while. The new ArtyA Guitar Only Watch 2021 called ‘Is That So?’ is a colour-filled horological extravaganza. Exciting and unique to the core, the new ArtyA Guitar Only Watch 2021 is brimming with artistic creativity and horological prowess.
The watch itself is designed in collaboration with legendary guitarist John McLaughlin and is based on the Son of Sound Guitar (John McLaughlin Unique Edition) built by world-renowned luthier Paul Reed Smith.
Straight off the bat, it is the dial that captures your attention: brimming with the excellence brought on by the 110 hours of fully hand-painted job, the dial is inspired by the colours of the mythical album of John McLaughlin. A Geneva-based workshop called Blandenier has produced this artwork that is present on both the guitar and the watch, and is in turn created by Marq Spusta, a San Francisco based artist.
“Too many cooks” might be a time tested adage, but the new ArtyA Guitar Only Watch 2021 defies that. It’s as if the brand has produced an exceptional collaborative effort that is challenging this very concept by asking ‘Is That So?’.
This enchanting display of vivid colours is encased inside ArtyA’s patented and uniquely-shaped steel 316L DLC blackened and 18k Gold case. The case has 4 active pushers, two on either side, inspired by the design of a guitar’s tuning pegs. The case also features an engraved signature of John McLaughlin that is engraved on the case back.
A true example of a goldsmith mastery, it is also the first ArtyA Guitar dial to accommodate 6 Gold strings and f holes. And unlike most watches, the new ArtyA Guitar Only Watch 2021 also features a triple anti-reflective treatment on the sapphire crystal.
For those looking at collecting something truly unique, or for those who love the music of John McLaughlin, the new ArtyA Guitar Only Watch 2021 is an absolute must-have.
And even though I haven’t handled an ArtyA watch before, the idea of colourful watches is something that appeals to me quite a bit personally. There is too much of dulling blues and greys in the world of horology that timepieces like these really stand out and for the right reasons. This is why I ended up buying the Alexander Shorokhoff Kandy.
The Context
ArtyA — Art + Yvan Arpa (founder) — is a relatively new player on the market, having been formed only in 2010. But in its short 11-year journey, it has managed to leave a very (colourful) mark on the industry.
This Only Watch release also provides the opportunity to immerse oneself in the artistically liberating world of ArtyA, as the winner of this unique ArtyA watch & guitar will have the possibility to meet John McLaughlin and the opportunity to visit the impressive workshops of Blandenier and/or ArtyA.
In regards to the charity, 54 brands are participating this year for the 9th edition — the first one was in 2005 — of the biennial charity auction Only Watch, whose aim is to raise funds for research against Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This auction has raised more than 70 million Euros — the 2019 edition raised CHF 38’593’000 — so far and has enabled scientists to continue their research.
The lots will go on a small world tour — unfortunately, and surprise surprise, Australia is not a part of it — and then auctioned in collaboration with Christie’s on 6 November 2021, at 2pm (Geneva time), at the Four Seasons Hôtel des Bergues.
The Theme
The apparent — from a majority of the releases across the 54 brands — albeit unofficial orange theme for this year’s Only Watch Auction is nay default present within the plethora of colours that empower this stellar timepiece.
The Engine
This 37mm x 49mm x 15mm watch is powered by the ArtyA Woodstock Swiss high-end automatic movement featuring sliding hour, minutes, seconds, date and chronograph. It offers a decent 50-hour power reserve and comes on a crocodile strap.
That’s All Folks!
Just like John McLaughlin’s music is a blend of jazz and jazz fusion and incorporates elements from other styles such as Indian Classical music, the ArtyA Guitar Only Watch 2021 is a perfect mixture of contemporary watchmaking and Avantgarde design ideology.
The marriage of kaleidoscope of colours and symphony of music has never looked better.
To find out more about the new ArtyA Guitar Only Watch 2021 and other auction timepieces, please head to the ONLY WATCH 2021 collection website here. All images unless otherwise specified are © 2020 Luxury Artpieces SA. All basic information Copyright © Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies. Make sure to check out our reviews of Watches & Wonders 2021 releases here.
