Hands-On: Artime ART03-ST Tourbillon Watch
Best described as a “horological supergroup” formed by six individuals from different sides of the luxury watch industry (all with very impressive resumes), Artime is a fairly new name within the the high-end independent scene. Very new, in fact, as the Swiss brand was founded in 2021 and didn’t formally release its first model until just a couple of years ago, in 2023. However, an extensive history isn’t needed when the products truly speak for themselves. Even those who don’t personally gravitate towards Artime’s avant-garde aesthetic can still appreciate the levels of engineering and attention to detail that are present in each one of its watches.
Among the various festivities outside of Palexpo during Geneva Watch Week 2025, Artime presented its new ART03 timepiece, which marks the brand’s second collection and ushers in the next chapter of its catalog. Artime’s watches are singular creations where the internal caliber is entirely integrated with the outer case, and the brand will produce a total of 120 examples of the ART03 movement, which will be spread across all future iterations of its ART03 tourbillon watch. As part of the inaugural launch, the Artime ART03 is being offered as a 10-piece limited edition in 18k yellow gold (ref. ART03-3N) and as the stainless steel version featured here (ref. ART03-ST), which will be produced as a limited edition of 30 examples.
Artime is a high-horology brand that exists solely on the luxury-oriented side of the industry, and the ART03-ST represents the first time that Artime has produced a watch in stainless steel. That said, this humble yet durable alloy only accounts for a relatively small portion of the model’s overall construction, as the rest of its outer case is intricately machined from clear sapphire, while the gears and bridges of its movement are all crafted from solid white gold. Despite being characterized by the same fundamental design language as the brand’s original ART01 series, the ART03 is a completely new watch. It deviates from its predecessor in two key areas that aim to address the most common critiques of the brand’s first model.
At 42mm in diameter with a tonneau-shaped case, the original ART01 was a fairly sizable creation, and in our review of the brand’s rose gold ART01-5N, you can see that the watch is absolutely pushing the upper limits of what is possible on my 6.5 to 6.75-inch wrist. By contrast, the new Artime ART03 opts for a noticeably more compact overall profile with a case diameter of 39mm, although it remains the same 11.4mm height as its larger counterpart with an identical 50 meters of water resistance. The watch industry often places an emphasis on thinness, but I personally wouldn’t want Artime’s models to be much thinner, as any reduction in height would also reduce the unique “window” effect of the sapphire case section, which allows you to look completely through the side of the watch.
Given that tonneau-shaped watches always wear larger than circular models with the same on-paper diameter, the ART03 is still a fairly big timepiece that offers ample presence on the wrist. That said, to further reduce its proportions, the function selector switch has been relocated to a separate pusher at 4 o’clock, rather than being integrated into the structure of the winding crown like on the ART01 models. Along with allowing Artime to decrease the physical size of the crown, relocating the function selector to a separate pusher also prevents users from inadvertently switching between modes of operation when the crown comes into contact with the back of their hand. All things considered, the ART03 is still a sizable watch, but its reduction in size is immediately apparent, and its smaller format helps expand Artime’s catalog to a wider range of buyers.
Beyond its size, the second most common critique of Artime’s original ART01 series was that the model was simply too skeletonized for some people’s preferences. With clear sapphire forming much of the case’s structure and open-worked bridges extending inward from the perimeter of its silhouette, the ART01 is a truly striking creation, but a significant percentage of its appearance is completely transparent. Similar to the ART01, the Artime ART03 is a singular object, where the bridges of its movement attach directly to the case (rather than the standard approach of having a movement mounted within a separate housing). However, Artime has opted for an intentionally less-skeletonized design for the ART03 that still manages to reveal the entirety of the movement’s intricate mechanics.
The blue-finished plates that form the backdrop for the internal components of the Artime ART03-ST are not actually part of the movement itself, and just like the brand’s original ART01 series, the movement’s skeletonized white gold bridges are mounted directly to the interior perimeter of the case and extend in V-shaped formations to support the white gold gears and rubies set within contrasting yellow gold chatons. The blue-finished plates are placed between the different sections of the movement in a manner that fills the spaces that would otherwise be unoccupied; however, since the plates do not serve a structural purpose, none of them actually obscure any of the other finely finished components.
If Artime desired, the brand could easily make the ART03 just as open-worked as the ART01 by simply omitting its decorative internal plates, and the less skeletonized appearance of the ART03 series was entirely an aesthetic decision. The blue-finished plates on the ART03-ST visually fill the space within its case, although they are placed around the various components of the movement to further highlight the caliber’s sculptural architecture. Since all of the movement’s functional parts are supported by its skeletonized white gold bridges, the blue-finished plates on the ART03-ST are able to exist solely within the background at various different depths, and this provides the watch’s internals with the appearance of seeming to float within the case above a multi-layered blue backdrop.
Realistically speaking, a skeletonized watch will never offer the absolute most legible display, but the Artime ART03 does offer improved legibility when compared to its ART01 predecessors. Similar to the brand’s larger ART01 series, the pair of skeletonized hands are furnished with luminescent tips, and the sapphire chapter ring features cut-outs for the hour markers that are filled with matching blue-glowing Hyceram ceramic luminous material. While it is still possible that some wearers might confuse the hands with the movement’s skeletonized V-shaped bridges, the blue backdrop formed by the internal decorative plates creates notably more visual contrast, especially for the minute track, which now features a solid blue backdrop for its printed white markings.
Similar to its inaugural ART01 series, Artime’s 331-component ART03 movement features a manual-wind design, and it is constructed without a mainplate, with its white gold bridges instead mounted directly to the interior perimeter of the middle case. Just like the ART01, the 25-jewel Artime ART03 movement is equipped with a column wheel-operated function selector switch, along with a tourbillon that appears in the brand’s patented “pillarless” design, which is formed by a trio of three-dimensional branches that flare outward to echo the shape of the movement’s bridges. Additionally, despite adhering to a smaller overall format, the ART03 still offers the same on-paper specs as its larger sibling, with an operating frequency of 21,600vph (3 Hz) and a power reserve of approximately 80 hours.
Typically only found inside high-end watches, a function selector switch takes the place of the standard keyless works mechanism to enable a single crown to serve more than one function. Rather than having a crown that is pulled out to engage different modes of operation within the movement, the ART03’s crown remains flush against the side of its case, and the function selector switch allows users to change between neutral (N), winding (R), and setting (H) modes by simply pressing the additional pusher located at 4 o’clock. The current mode of operation is displayed by a satellite-style indicator at the 3 o’clock position, and the column wheel that governs the function selector mechanism is prominently showcased below the mechanics of the indicator.
Like the brand’s previous ART01 models, the Artime ART03 is completed by a textured rubber strap that emulates the appearance of woven fabric. On the stainless steel ART03-ST, the standard strap option appears in a vivid shade of orange that creates a sharp contrast against the blue-finished plates mounted within its case (although I’d be shocked if Artime didn’t also offer other strap colors for its customers). The strap for the ART03-ST uses a velcro-style fastening system that loops through a chunky skeletonized stainless steel buckle, and on the updated ART03 strap, both ends of the buckle connect with velcro fasteners to enable a wider range of adjustment and allow owners to better center the buckle on the underside of their wrist.
Personally, I still feel that Artime’s original ART01 series best embodies the brand’s approach to watchmaking, although the ART03 is objectively a more wearable expression of this concept. Aside from the fact that the ART01 was a bit too large for me to comfortably wear as an everyday timepiece, its ultra-skeletonized structure was ultimately an aesthetic that I most enjoyed when the watch was in my hands, rather than when it was actually on my wrist. Whenever a timepiece has a significantly open-worked display, the wearer’s arm inevitably can been seen among the various internal components, and the blue-finished plates on the ART03-ST offer an entirely unobstructed view of the watch’s mechanics, while simultaneously covering any unsightly wrist hair that might distract from its appearance.
At the end of the day, I’m still partial to Artime’s original ART01 series, but the ART03 is a significantly more wearable timepiece that manages to correct the main drawbacks of its predecessor, while simultaneously retaining the key qualities that made it special. Since the Artime ART03-ST is crafted from stainless steel, it is a bit less expensive than its yellow gold counterpart, although the 30-piece limited edition is still priced at 210,000 CHF (approximately $260,000 USD, at the time of writing), which places it into the realm of “grail territory” for all but the most affluent of collectors. If I ever won the lottery, I certainly wouldn’t tell anyone; however, there would definitely be signs, and one of them would be a piece from Artime joining my personal collection. For more information, please visit the Artime Creations website.
