Arny Kapshitzer (the "AK" of AK Geneva) had long been dreaming of rolling up his sleeves, getting his shirt wet, slogging his guts out, in short, of doing battle with watchmaking and its benchmark concepts (no pun intended). The man who considers an absence of risk to be a source of boredom had got into his head the idea of devising a complicated watch concept by drawing on an imagination which - despite its richness – no-one had exploited until then, flouting in the process a few received ideas about the manner in which a watch should be envisioned. Because Arny Kapshitzer thinks that watchmaking is short on craziness, and that it is often by narrating a story (without telling stories) that emotion is created.
With a microscopic team and scraped-together funds, he has succeeded in getting his dream off the drawing board, exhibiting it to the public and causing some expressions of astonishment (and even – now that we’ve finished with the slightly ironical remarks - a marked interest) at so much boldness. This dream is the Warp HMS Automatic, a first model that borrows its name and unconventional appearance (but one which is thought-through to the tiniest micro-details) from science fiction. A watch of the future embedded in a very real present, as it were. Fine watchmaking, in Kapshitzer’s view, means doing things very seriously without ever taking oneself seriously.
Arny Kapshitzer is a designer, not a watchmaker. And somehow it’s much better that way because he can design without restricting himself. But he would never be presumptuous enough to claim he does everything himself. In order to complete his crazy project, he has called on professionals from the profession, as one says. Obviously. Modest but determined, creative but with his feet firmly on the ground, Kapshitzer is one of those people who are nonetheless changing the history of watchmaking. Be sure never to tell him what he should do, as the sky might well grow a shade darker. Although Arny Kapshitzer is not a watchmaker, he refuses to obey both givers of advice - whether or not they come from authorized circles, as one says - and authority. A quality that he backs up with a fierce sense of independence and sprinkles with a touch of a rebelliousness. And all this goes back some time. At the Geneva Academy of Music and the Jacques Dalcroze Institute, where he studied for 10 years, he nearly got himself expelled from the reed pipe class (this is not made up) after having manufactured an instrument in the shape of a totem pole with hairs at one end (…) and bearing the word “scalp”. Music? What’s the connection with watchmaking. Rewind…
Having been “contaminated” from his earliest years with artistic things by his Russian mother, Lydia, a teacher of fine arts, little Arny scoured all the museums of Europe and Navarra. Which is where his highly-refined sense of aesthetics and an almost extremist passion for Leonardo da Vinci come from. Amongst other things. His father, Vitold, who was also Russian, was an engineer, journalist, writer and dissident. So he was persecuted by the regime. At the end of the 1960s he took his little family and settled in Italy - Rome to be precise - where Arny was born on September 29, 1972. Which explains his genuine multilingualism: he speaks Russian fluently and quite good Italian. And French, of course, because Kapshitzer senior landed in neutral Switzerland in July 73 to escape persecution. From this revolutionary father, whom he lost at the age of seven, Arny inherited a keen interest in technology and mechanics, an interest that he himself was to develop as the years went by. So much so that he later wanted to become a designer in the automotive or aerospace industry. Either that orma rock star.
While waiting to be swooned over by crowds of hysterical groupies, and after more-than-mediocre secondary-school studies, in the science section, he tried his hand at precision mechanics at the Geneva School of Technology and Crafts, which is just opposite the Watchmaking School. A coincidence? Who knows. However, since he was not given to studies, he was only to spend two months there because, as he says, "filing gets boring after a while!" So in the early 1990s our eclectic but always creative Arny Kapshitzer (from the German word Kopfschutzer, meaning a helmet, because he also has some Germanic blood in his origins) began an apprenticeship as a car mechanic with a Geneva car dealer and at the same time designed clothes and other objects for brands.
He was to come into contact with watchmaking for the first time at the end of the decade with a renowned brand. All of a sudden it dawned on this mind passionately interested in both aesthetics and technology: watchmaking was to be his realm. But he noticed that at the time there was little room for innovation as he understood it, that is, genuine risk-taking and getting radically off the beaten track by devising new concepts. He became a consultant to a major Geneva watch brand through a friend who was a distributor of the Pro Engineer CAD software program. He had taken the first step. As of 2001 Kapshitzer devoted himself to the development of watch concepts. In 2004 he took part in the Custos venture and then bowed out the following year. He became a serious drinker of beer and good wine, lost 20 kilos in 2006 only to put 10 on again in 2007. And it was one Sunday afternoon in September 2007 when he was sitting on the terrace of a large Geneva cafe, which has been located for ages at place du Bourg-de-Four, just opposite the police station (an amusing detail for the upstart that he is), that the idea of a watch was born and the first drawings burgeoned…
Arny likes: Arny doesn't like:
- good meals - idiots (that's why he sometimes hates himself)
- his mates, people in general and - waiting Denis and Philippe in particular
- curiosity
- life
- women (otherwise no life !!!)
Denis Sottas, In charge of many things.
Because of his surname people often think he's Greek. And they're often wrong. Because Denis Sottas is a Fribourgeois on his father's side, Italian on his mother’s side, and a Genevan by birth. Which was on March 22, 1962 to be precise. And to think that six years later it was also a March 22 that was to be the real starting-point of the May 68 riots. But that's another story, even though the coincidence is an amusing one… Because Sottas himself also prefers independence to imposed order. Already at school he was a manipulator and slightly violent, especially towards his German teacher. He used to do a minimum amount of work, but always produced good results. This did not prevent him later on from pursuing a faultless career in banking. Until the day when... but let's not jump ahead. Following his (fairly) untroubled schooling in Geneva and music studies (he too) - of the clarinet, to be precise - he got over the compulsory hurdle of the adolescent revolution, stayed down for one grade, became a technology fanatic, began to study medicine but stopped after two months, and then economics, in which he was to gain a degree in 1987. At the same time as his studies he worked for Swissair, which enabled him to travel, but he spoke pretty bad English, which didn’t prevent him from charting a course through the hazards of life. Then he embarked on a career in banking, as the set phrase goes. He was to work for various reputed institutions, with asset management finally gaining the upper hand over commercial banking. He first made contact with watchmaking through one of his clients. It turned out to be more than a revelation for him, a genuine virus. He then decided to take evening classes on watchmaking, choosing the option "Mechanical watch with calendar”, the idea being to understand the vocabulary and the way such a watch works.
Then just as he was cruising along in his job without a cloud in sight, he was dismissed overnight because of his beard (!) Yet he had thought that if his beard was trimmed skilfully and regularly it was a sign of a genuinely cool attitude, providing a welcome contrast with this politically morethan- correct daily environment… But that's not what his employer thought, who regarded it as an unacceptable and intolerable sign of negligence .Feeling bitter but combative, he decided to put an end to a career of nearly 20 years in banking and to devote all his time to watchmaking projects, like this management platform he set up to create synergy between several designers. He met Arny Kapshitzer in November 2005 and embarked with him on this crazy venture. Since then he has more particularly looked after the financial aspect of the venture…
Denis likes: Denis doesn't like:
- having a laugh (which doesn't prevent good work) - endives with ham
- getting away from it all (often getting stopped at the borders) - hypocrites and eels
- eating well and eating healthy food
- do-it-yourself
Philippe Rouge, Head of his mouse.
His business partners call him "the red" (a bit facile, let’s admit it). Is it because he easily sees red? Or because people think he’s a born revolutionary? However that may be, this Lausannois by birth (he was born on October 3, 1972 to be precise) and in his heart has a little something that others don't have: aptitude. Already at school he used to gain good results without working. So one would think he gained his secondary school-leaving examination with flying colours. One would be wrong. Because paradoxically Philip was not cut out for studies. So much so that he even went so far as to spread in the classroom - unintentionally, he pleads - a pepper spray he had bought in France with some friends. As for the teacher, he was to leave the room in tears (not tears of sadness) and never found out who the culprit was (let's hope for Philippe’s sake that he will never read these lines). So rather than embarking on the logical path of secondary-school studies (that’s probably why, even today, Philippe is an old teenager), he began an accountancy apprenticeship in a fiduciary’s office and gained his Federal Certificate of Ability in 1991. Accountancy? Another aptitude that characterizes Philippe Rouge - and perhaps his greatest one - is figures. Some people are like that, with some people it’s sport, with others music. With him it’s figures. Armed with an uncommon logical mind, he is one of those who can visualize mechanisms and constructions and who know how to “transpose” them with simplicity, one of those who immediately understand what matrix codes conceal. Philippe is thus an accountant by training. For a few months after his apprenticeship he got a taste of independence by being entrusted with some assignments by his first employer, a fiduciary. Then he enrolled for the federal accountancy diploma. But after four years of classes and only a few weeks before the examinations, the company who employed him went bankrupt and circumstances prevented him from sitting the exams. Although he had lost all motivation, he didn't lose his zest for independence, even though his career as an employee was to be marked by different experiences. As in 2000, when one of his ex-bosses established a start-up in IT. In addition to accountancy and administrative management, he rubbed shoulders with multimedia development and was put in charge of the Internet site and the product demonstrations that the company created. But on September 11, 2001 Philip was hit head-on by the World Trade Center attacks. Not that he was there at the time of the events, but his company had an office in New York and rather suddenly saw its business seriously affected. Who would have foreseen that these terrorist acts would affect a small company as far away as Lausanne? Consequently Philippe, together with half the staff, were made redundant for economic reasons. While alternating between jobs as an employee – notably with the watchmaker-designer Jorg Hysek, and work as a freelance (a status he has maintained since 2005) - he then brushed up his knowledge of IT development. On the job, with the manuals on his lap. Being self-taught and proud of it, he was quite successful with the method since, as he managed to put himself “in the user’s shoes”, he created all kinds of applications from ordinary databases.This seemingly quiet person (he’s always been that way), a fan of watchmaking (since recently), a confirmed bachelor and a great perfectionist (but only with himself), met Denis Sottas at a seminar in 2006. Interested in his skills and above all in his approach to IT, Denis asked him to develop a program for a watchmaking project. It was not a program that Philippe was to create but a genuine solution, as simple and user-friendly as the problem is complex and daunting. Consequently Denis was quite naturally to think of Philippe when the AK Genève project was to take shape in September 2007. Today Cocolet – as Denis is affectionately nicknamed - is the third partner in an adventure that is only just beginning, taking on responsibility for administration of the company, web site development and everything that is expedient for the management structure, POS advertising and contacts with retailers.
Philippe likes: Philippe doesn’t like:
- unusual high-tech gadgets - not understanding something
- compulsive purchasing - vegetables
- films in general and SF films from the - everything that has more than six legs
1950s (notably Forbidden Planet) - delay (his own and other people's)
in particular - people saying no to him (that's probably
- his PlayStation why he’s still a bachelor)
The genesis of the project
One Sunday afternoon in September 2007 when he was having a drink on the terrace of a famous Geneva café, Arny realized that fine watchmaking is often associated with high-tech sectors such as aviation, aeronautics, automotive sport or competition sailing. But never with science fiction, which is probably considered too puerile, not serious enough or too far removed from the aspirations of customers who are deemed to be demanding. Now Arny Kapshitzer is a great fan of Star Trek. And what's more he would like to wear a watch that "takes up space", a different watch in a sector that no-one had operated in until then. An elongated shape? A large size? Why not. A few strokes of the pencil later he had designed a watch that looks 90% like the one he is bringing out today, bereft only of the marketing approach. "Otherwise I would have made a round watch, which the vast majority of people would surely have liked more", he quips, with a laugh. The Warp was born … and the venture could begin.
The Warp HMS Automatic: a warped concept.
Warp? Arny Kapshitzer draws two dots on a sheet of paper and asks you: "What is the shortest path from one dot to the other?" Feeling sure of yourself, you answer without hesitating: "A straight line!" Wrong. Arny folds the sheet in two and joins the two dots by making them touch one another. Damn it, that was without taking account of quantum mechanics and its theory of travelling without moving. Used in Star Trek’s fictitious universe, in which the spaceships are equipped with warp drives that enable them to attain superluminal speeds and to travel "where man has never gone", this theory holds that it would be possible to “warp” space-time by acting on a particle called graviton and thus to travel instantaneously. The Warp HMS (for Hours Minutes Seconds) Automatic of AK Genève is thus an acknowledgement of this concept, a “serious toy for adults” which exists in its own right but whose main aim is to create an emotion that has become rare in the world of fine watchmaking.
The case
Knowing Arny Kapshitzer and his unconditional love of the 1960s science-fiction series, one understands more easily why he chose to give the case of his watch a shuttle shape, which creates an impression of speed. This elongated case has been designed to form an extension of the arm, thereby displaying a rare harmony for a watch of this size. Space shuttle or tortoise, when one looks at it from above with its asymmetrical horns and its crown, one has to admit that the watch also looks like a beetle. And an ergonomic beetle what’s more. Since the arm is always slimmer at the wrist joint, the watch is therefore thicker on the crown side. "It's a grand complication case", Kapshitzer likes to say, “as the middle-piece is made entirely of compressed carbon fibre, the unusual formulation of which makes the case both very shockresistant and very light. It takes up to 25 minutes to machine it, compared with only three for most conventional middle-pieces". Moreover, carbon fibre makes it possible to use other materials such as gold, for example, for the shaft and the bezel. Being asymmetrical and more spaced-out on the crown side, the horns guide the lines of the watch so that it fits more snugly with the shape of the arm. Attention to detail has prompted the designers to screw on the 15 pieces of the case - using a total of 34 screws. And the crown consists of 20 pieces, all of which are “useful”. Finally, the seals, which are guaranteed for 50 years, are made of the same rubber as the bracelet. The glass Cut flush with the asymmetric middle-piece and profiled to fit the very special interior design of the case, the convex glass was a real nightmare to make. "You should make it shorter, this bit serves no purpose!", is the remark that Arny Kapshitzer heard most frequently. That's probably why he wanted so much to keep it, this famous “bit” of glass that gives the watch its characteristic shape, despite the extreme complexity of manufacturing it.
The dial
It looks like something straight out of the Star Trek series, uncannily reminiscent of the starship Enterprise. Located eccentrically towards the right of the dial, a cut-away metal piece reveals the jumping hours and minutes on two superimposed discs. The seconds are displayed at 3 o'clock on a cylinder linked directly to the crown. 9 o'clock forms the tail of the “spaceship”. Made of the same metal, it bears the name of the watch and is punctuated by a totally off-centre dot, where the brand logo is engraved.
The movement
The basic automatic movement is the Time Engine 001 (the 00 is the coaxial movement in preparation), made in cooperation with Concepto. Operating at 28,800 vibrations per hour, its oscillating weight is made of iridium alloy with a carbon-fibre plate. The telescopic crown, which is not screw-on but has a bayonet fitting, is mounted on a titanium shock-absorber and directly linked to the movement. The jumping hours and minutes module and the seconds module on the cylinder, on the other hand, are proprietary. Nothing is superfluous here: all the pieces, which are interlinked,
are useful. Although its design is complicated, this movement is simple and reliable to use. It benefits from a chamfered, a microshot-blasted and satin-lustred finishing. The bracelet The quest for materials has been taken right down to the bracelet. Made of perfluorinated, hypoallergenic rubber that resists all acids, it is more expensive - but also unique and much more reliable over time - than the vast majority of rubbers currently available. In addition, the clasp is recessed into the inner surface of the bracelet (an innovative system on which a patent is being filed), so as not to injure or impede the wrist. Better still, with this clasp and the profiled case the watch becomes an integral part of the wrist.
The team
“I would like to say thank you to all those who did not believe in my project, because they enabled me to make progress", states Kapshitzer, with a mischievous glint in his eye before adding on a serious note again, “but also and above all to pay tribute to the specialists who helped me to fulfil it”. Because for Kapshitzer it is a matter of honour to point out that he did not do everything on his own and that, despite an extremely demanding and rigid specification of requirements, the whole process took place amid constant dialogue and in an atmosphere of respect. Particularly with the team of designers from BECS Geneva, who devised the plans, the special tools for cutting the crystal glass, and the clasp, but also with Concepto for the movements and their technical support, and with Pierre Giamarchi, the copywriter, who transposed a crazy idea into words...
Product Updates:
HMS WARP Automatic Collection
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