Here’s a watch I have been wanting to get my hands on for quite some time now. The Akrivia-06. The men and women behind Akrivia are one and the same as the Grand Prix winning team behind Rexhep Rexhepi.
Akrivia caught my attention not with their recent win with the Rexhep Rexhepi line, it was indeed with this watch from a while back. It just looks so very different from anything else out there. The brand also speaks to me as the team behind it is young and hungry, and facing a bright future if they keep pushing the way they do.
As this is a not so new release a lot has been written already about this particular piece, so I won’t bore you with that. I’ll leave you with my short impressions following that fleeting moment where I could actually hold this unique watch up close. And where possible a picture or two as well 😉
This particular AKRIVIA watch does not feature a tourbillonTourbillon A tourbillon is a complication in a mechanical watch that is designed to improve the accuracy of the watch by compensating for the effects of gravity on the balance wheel and escapement. It consists of a rotating cage that holds the balance wheel and escapement, which rotates on its own axis once per minute. This rotation helps to average out the positional errors caused by gravity, making the watch more accurate [Learn More], a rarity for the brand that seems quite fond of those. That said you still have plenty of mechanical wonder to marvel at both on the front and on the back, especially since it is a manual wind allowing full viewing access to the in-house calibre. More on that below, let’s briefly zoom in on that beautiful face first.
They pride themselves on hand finishing everything they possibly can and that certainly shows. This is by no means a watch intended for the average consumer. Not only due to its very particular look, also because these are not mass produced. In fact, they’re made the good old fashioned way, one at a time. These are watches for watch lovers and watch collectors.
Take a moment to take all of that detail in, just take a moment. Once you get past the deliciously finished and blued hands I invite you to find anything that is not intricately finished.
On pictures this watch always appeared massive to me, much to my surprise however this is not the case in real life. It has a 41mm diameter (less than a Speedmaster) and is just 9,9mm thick. Very good. It is practical too, with a 100 hour power reserveRéserve de marche Also known as Power Reserve. A watch's power reserve refers to the amount of time a mechanical watch can run without being wound. The power reserve of a mechanical watch can vary depending on the size of the mainspring, the efficiency of the gear train, and the rate at which the mainspring releases energy. If a watch has a Power Reserve 'complication' it simply means that the status of the power reserve can be seen on the watch itself (either on the dial or movement side of the watch). [Learn More], which you can monitor on the disk on the front of the dial which I bet you didn’t notice just yet.
The movement has that symmetry that we find back in other watches from the brand, it is glorious. The effort the team puts in the finishing of the parts is visible from afar and even more when bringing in a loupe. My personal favourite part is that insanely beautiful bridgeBridges The bridges of a watch movement are the metal plates that hold the wheels and other components of the movement in place. They are attached to the main plate of the movement with screws. Bridges are used to support the balance wheel, the escapement, the mainspring barrel and other elements. Combined with the main plate they are the foundation of any watch movement. [Learn More]. Finishing is excellent and one can only Imagine how much better this will get as the team further hones their skills as the year’s go by.
When you buy an Akrivia you buy more than just a watch, you’re buying sincere craftsmanship and investing in the future of Swiss watchmaking.
Price of these at the time of their launch started at CHF 79K for the steel version.