Y. Arpa is a Swiss watch designer. He started his career as a mathematics professor who, after participating in professional martial art combats in Thailand [1] and crossing Papua New Guinea by foot, came back to his roots in Switzerland.[ citation needed ]
In 1997, he joined the Richemont Group for Baume & Mercier as the Managing Director for Switzerland and as Sales Director for Europe and Asia. [2]
From 2002 to 2006 he acted as the Managing Director for Hublot participating in the launch of the Big Bang.
From 2006 to 2009 he was the CEO of Romain Jerome introducing watches with rusted steel from the Titanic [3] or real Moon dust. [4] [5]
In 2009 Yvan Arpa created his own company called Luxury Artpieces for which he launched the brands below:
From 2010 to 2011, he acted as COO of Jacob&Co. [10] [11]
At Basel World 2013, he launched Spero Lucem, named in honor of his birth city Geneva. For this brand, Yvan Arpa also created some pens and some knives. [12]
At last, Yvan Arpa personalized a motorbike, which took more than 1'000 hours to sculpt and customize, with heavy artillery incrusted at the back, in the shape of a XXL shaped bullet belt. [13]
In 2016, Yvan Arpa designed the smartwatch Gear S3 for Samsung, which is the first smartwatch using high-end watchmaking codes. [14] [15] He also presents the Samsung Gear S3 in Berlin, at its International Launch Event. [16] [17]
According to hodinkee and due to his incredible life history "Yvan Arpa is a strong candidate to be the Most interesting Man in the World, Swiss Edition" [18]
In 2017, Yvan Arpa joined Pascal Meyer, director of the website Qoqa. From their union, the watch Magma [19] was born, entirely “swiss made” respecting the codes of fine watchmaking. Particularity: [20] they possess a plate issued of 5 iconics watches from swiss watchmaking.
IWC International Watch Co. AG, founded International Watch Company, better known as IWC Schaffhausen, is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer located in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Originally founded in Switzerland by American watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones in 1868, the company was transferred to the Rauschenbach family in 1880 after bankruptcy and has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group since 2000.
Piaget SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker and jeweller. Founded in 1874 by Georges Piaget in the village of La Côte-aux-Fées, Piaget is currently a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont group.
In horology, a tourbillion or tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement to increase accuracy. Conceived by the British watchmaker and inventor John Arnold, it was developed by his friend the Swiss-French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet and patented by Breguet on 26 June 1801. In a tourbillon, the escapement and balance wheel are mounted in a rotating cage, with the goal of eliminating errors of poise in the balance giving a uniform weight.
Girard-Perregaux SA is a luxury Swiss watch manufacture with its origins dating back to 1791. In 2022, then-owner French luxury group Kering sold its stake in Sowind Group SA, the parent company of Girard-Perregaux, via management buyout. Headquartered in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, the company opened the Girard-Perregaux Museum near its headquarters in Villa Marguerite in 1999. It is best known for the historic Tourbillon with three gold bridges, which was awarded a gold medal at the 1889 International Exposition in Paris soon after the launch of the watch. Other notable models from the company include the collection 1966, Vintage 1945, and models such as Tri-Axial Tourbillon and Laureato, an icon inspired from the 1970s.
Breguet is a Swiss luxury watch, clock and jewelry manufacturer founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Headquartered in L'Abbaye, Switzerland, Breguet is one of the oldest surviving watchmaking brands and a pioneer of numerous watchmaking technologies such as the tourbillon, which was developed into a practical solution by Abraham Breguet in 1801. Abraham Breguet also invented and produced the world's first self-winding watch in 1780, as well as the world's first wristwatch in 1810.
Franck Muller is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer named after its founder. The company's estimated total sales were €290 million in watches with an average unit price of €38,000. Franck Muller's watches are worn by various celebrities, among them Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elton John, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Kanye West, Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather, Paris Hilton, and Chris Brown.
Roger Dubuis is a Swiss watch manufacturer of luxury watches based in Geneva, Switzerland. The company was founded by Roger Dubuis and Carlos Dias in 1995.
F. P. Journe is a Swiss luxury watch manufacture d'horlogerie founded in 1999 by François-Paul Journe. The only three-time winner of the Aiguille d'Or grand prize from the Fondation du Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, Journe focuses on complex precision chronometers with a production of around 800 watches per year.
Frédérique Constant SA is a Swiss manufacture of luxury wristwatches based in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. Originally established in 1988 by Dutch married couple Peter Stas and Aletta Stas-Bax, it was acquired in 2016 by Citizen Holdings of Tokyo, Japan.
Greubel Forsey is a Swiss watchmaking company specializing in complicated, high-end timepieces. It was launched in 2004 by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey and is based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
Maîtres du Temps is a Swiss watch company. Founded in 2005 by Steven Holtzman, the brand is based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The brand launched in Geneva in 2008 with Chapter One, a watch developed by Christophe Claret, Roger Dubuis and Peter Speake-Marin.
Raketa wristwatches, have been manufactured since 1961 by the Petrodvorets Watch Factory in Saint Petersburg. The Petrodvorets Watch Factory is Russia's oldest factory, founded by Peter the Great in 1721. Raketa watches have been produced for the Red Army, the Soviet Navy, and for North Pole expeditions, as well as for civilians. Today, Raketa is one of a handful of global watch brands that produces its own movements from start to finish.
A smartwatch is a portable wearable computer that resembles a wristwatch. Most modern smartwatches are operated via a touchscreen, and rely on mobile apps that run on a connected device in order to provide core functions.
Richard Mille is a Swiss luxury watch company founded in 2001 by Dominique Guenat and Richard Mille, based in Les Breuleux, Switzerland. The brand specialises in high-priced clockwork watches, which have been criticised by some as "ridiculous" and "unnecessarily extravagant."
Dominique Loiseau was a French and Swiss watchmaker who worked at the highest levels of complex horology from the mid 1970s onwards He was the creator of several notable timepieces, including six Montres de Sables, the Rose de Temps clock, the Renaissance or Capriccio pocket watches and the Blancpain 1735 wristwatch. In 2011 he presented, the Loiseau 1f4, one of the most complicated automatic watches with eight patents. Loiseau announced in 2012 a collaboration with Swiss watch manufacturer Girard-Perregaux.
Speake Marin is a watchmaking brand specializing in luxury timepieces. It was founded in 2002 by English watchmaker Peter Speake-Marin and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Since his departure in 2017, Peter Speake-Marin is no longer affiliated with the brand. The brand was acquired in 2012 by one of the only independent women in the watch industry, an entrepreneur and arts enthusiast, Mrs. Christelle Rosnoblet, now CEO & President of Speake Marin. The brand is distinguished by bold, creative passion, expressed in a sophisticated modern style. The resulting timepieces are resolutely powerful examples of “Belle Horlogerie”. Driven by a resolutely entrepreneurial attitude and a determination to break free of existing watchmaking codes, Mrs Christelle Rosnoblet, offers a new approach to reading the time. In parallel, she strives to offer impeccably crafted timepieces while preserving their strong personality and independent spirit. As an independent company, Speake Marin enjoys creative freedom and agility in its decision-making. It can thus allow itself to be daring both technically and aesthetically on behalf of enthusiasts looking for off-the-beaten-track watchmaking and to the delight of the most discerning collectors. Vividly embodying the inimitable Speake Marin style, the collection's bold, contemporary models are recognizable at first glance.
Jacob & Co. is an American privately held jewelry and wristwatch retailer founded in 1986 by diamond designer Jacob Arabo. Its flagship boutique and corporate headquarters are located in Manhattan, New York City.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch series is a line of smartwatches designed and produced by Samsung Electronics. The line features various health, fitness, and fashion related features, and is integrated with Samsung's other products under the Samsung Galaxy brand. The series is the successor to the previous Samsung Gear watches.
Konstantin Chaykin is a Russian watchmaker and inventor. He started as an independent watchmaker in 2003, establishing a workshop in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the interests of the business, in 2012 he transferred production to Moscow, Russia, where his company currently resides. He completed his first clock in 2004. and in 2008 Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants accepted him as a candidate. Since 2010 he has been a member of the AHCI, while in 2016 he was elected by AHCI members as the President, a position held until 2019. In October 2022, the jury of the Temporis International Awards included Konstantin Chaikin in the Temporis Hall of Fame.
Bianchet is a Swiss luxury watchmaking company known for creating tonneau-shaped skeleton tourbillon watches.