Yvan Arpa

Yvan 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.

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 :

-Black Belt Watch is inspired by the seven virtues, the samurai code of conduct, associated with the Bushido warrior. The brand proposes also a watch only for people who detends a black belt in Martial Arts.[6][7][8]

-ArtyA : The brand is characterized by the unconventional raw materials it uses as butterfly wings, real bullets, fossilized dinosaur droppings, real spiders, boxes strucked by lightning, tobacco leaves etc.[9]

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 knifes.[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]

References

  1. ↑ Craddock, Felicia (26 April 2013). "Rebel watchmaker, black belts and all ; Yvan Arpa shakes up industry with atypical materials and designs". International Herald Tribune  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  2. ↑ 2010. "Yvan Arpa l'électron libre de l'horlogerie - Interview - HORLOGERIE et MONTRES". Tendancehorlogerie.com. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
  3. ↑ Hodgson, Neil (2 October 2007). "We're Using Titanic to Make Watches". Liverpool Echo  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Tourbillon Magazin | PORTFOLIO » MAGAZINE » Actuel". Tourbillon-magazin.ch. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
  5. ↑ "Yvan Arpa".
  6. ↑ "Montres Black Belt - Globe-MMA". 13 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "The Black Belt Watch, Only For People With Black Belts - aBlogtoWatch". 3 November 2009.
  8. ↑ Maillard, by Serge. "EUROPA STAR ARCADE / Yvan Arpa - ArtyA: The spirit of Bushido".
  9. ↑ "Artya : Iconic and patented design, already in museums".
  10. ↑ "Jacob & Co - Yvan Arpa aux commandes | Insider" (in French). WorldTempus. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
  11. ↑ Doerr, Elizabeth (20 August 2010). "Jacob & Co Yvan Arpa is back". WorldTempus. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  12. ↑ Montres, Le Point (21 July 2013). "Yvan Arpa : "Tout m'intéresse"".
  13. ↑ "Yvan Arpa - The Son of a Gun Ventures from One Dial to Two Wheels - Luxurious Magazine". 26 October 2013.
  14. ↑ "[Interview] Samsung Gear S3: Exploring the Boundaries of a Timeless Watch".
  15. ↑ "Un Genevois a dessiné la «montre» de Samsung".
  16. ↑ ArtyA (6 September 2016). "Yvan Arpa designer of the new Samsung Gear S3" – via YouTube.
  17. ↑ Notebook Italia (1 September 2016). "Samsung Gear S3 Samsung Unpacked Berlin 2016" – via YouTube.
  18. ↑ https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/samsung-gear-s3-smartwatch-review#


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