I'm often asked which watch I would buy if money were no object and I could have any watch my heart desires.
While the simple answer is that I would own a ridiculous number of watches, the hypothesis of unlimited wealth usually comes with the condition that I can only buy one new watch, and that's where the complexity begins.
Whatever I choose, the watch must be simply stunning, with particular attention to materials and mechanics, and I don't want my dream watch to be an obvious choice, which immediately excludes well-known manufacturers. Although there are a number of watches worthy of attention, one of the main contenders for purchase is the Artime ART01-5N - a skeletonized tourbillon made of pure gold and sapphire.
Artime is a Swiss brand officially introduced last year. It can be characterized as a watchmaking supergroup founded by six individuals with impressive track records in various fields of the watch industry. The combined result of their efforts can simply be called fantastic, and one of my favorite high-tech models of last year was the Artime ART01, the brand's inaugural model (wrist photos in the gallery below). If last year's watch had a white gold movement suspended inside a case made of titanium and sapphire, the latest model, released in 2024, is perhaps even more impressive: it replaces the white gold and titanium components of its predecessor with counterparts made of solid red gold 5N.
The Artime ART01-5N case is 42mm in diameter and 11.4mm thick, the same size as its titanium predecessor, and features the same sandwich-style construction with a transparent sapphire glass middle section occupying the entire front side of the watch under the bezel. However, in the new Artime ART01-5N model, the bezel, crown, and lower case part forming the integrated lugs are made of 5N red gold and have a contrasting matte and polished finish. Like the original titanium model, sapphire crystals are fitted on both the watch's dial and the screw-down case back, and the water resistance is the same 50 meters suitable for daily contact.
The Artime ART01-5N is not a movement placed in a case but a fully integrated design. The pink gold lower part forming the lugs not only serves as the foundation for the complex sapphire case but also acts as the plate for the movement. Skeletonized V-shaped bridges made of red gold and NAC - a specially treated dark gray metal alloy - are mounted on its inside. Since the Artime ART01-5N has neither a plate nor a dial, the bridges extend inward from the case's periphery and seem to pass right through the red gold bezel and the transparent sapphire chapter ring, which features the minute hand and luminescent hour markers.
The bridges of the hand-wound tourbillon mechanism are made of red gold and NAC, the wheels are made of white gold, and 25 jewels, placed at various pivot points, are set in gold chatons. The escape wheel is made of yellow gold, and inside the variable inertia balance wheel with gold regulating screws are two balance springs, arranged concentrically and in phase opposition, which contribute to increased inertia, perfect concentricity, reduced pivot wear, and enhanced accuracy of the ART01-5N. The dual balance spring system is housed within the brand's signature tourbillon carriage, which lacks the traditional columnar design, instead using three branching arms, reflecting the design motifs of all the watch's components, including the gear train and mainspring barrel visible at the 12 o'clock position.
Like the original titanium ART01 model launched last year, the red gold Artime ART01-5N operates at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz) with a power reserve of approximately 80 hours. Additionally, the crown features a function selector switch: instead of pulling the crown to different positions like in traditional wristwatches, pressing the button at the crown tip switches between winding, time setting, and neutral modes. In line with chronograph design, the function selection mechanism is controlled by a dual-function column wheel with vertical coupling, and its entire construction is displayed at the 3 o'clock position, with a corresponding indicator marked "N" for neutral, "R" for remontage (winding), and "H" for heure (time setting).
The Artime ART01-5N's integrated lugs are fitted with a textured rubber strap resembling woven fabric. Buyers can choose between an anthracite gray or chocolate brown strap (personally, I chose the gray version shown in the photo). The straps fasten on the underside of the wrist with Velcro that threads through a large 5N red gold buckle. With a 42mm diameter, a large crown, and an angular tonneau profile, the Artime ART01-5N appears quite substantial compared to traditional round watches with similar case sizes.
However, thanks to its thin design, the ART01-5N sits incredibly flat on the wrist, and the transparent case occupies minimal visual space compared to the fairly substantial case area.
Like the titanium version launched last year, the new red gold Artime ART01-5N will be produced in a limited series of 20 pieces, but due to the extensive use of gold in the case, their price is somewhat higher than their titanium counterparts - 225,000 Swiss Francs (or approximately 247,000 USD at the time of writing). Although I am unlikely to ever purchase a watch for a six-figure sum, these grail-level timepieces are undoubtedly among my absolute favorites in the industry. As the saying goes, "if I won the lottery, I wouldn't tell anyone, but the signs would definitely appear," and in the hypothetical scenario where I find a cheat code to life granting me endless money, there's a very high probability that you would see me in an Artime ART01-5N. More detailed information about the Artime ART01-5N can be found on the brand's website.