Straight up petrified dinosaur shit in a watch. Either it is the poor man’s fossil accessory, of the edgiest piece of the Jurassic available. You’d actually be surprised how many people collect the substance known as coprolite. You have probably already guessed what it is. In his ongoing quest to shock, awe, and inspire, Yvan Arpa gives you the Artya Coprolite. Artya is his own brand. He is the guy who pretty much made Romain Jerome what it is. His new mission is to continue “remaking” the watch – with an artistic flare unparalleled by other contemporaries.

No doubt that preference for the Artya Coprolite is an acquired taste. Not only is the dial material something you need to think kicks ass, but you need to stomach 50mm of it including the case on your wrist. Arpa has a fascination with decay. As such, the steel or bronze case here is done in a fashion that resembles highly weathered metal. When I first looked at the piece it seemed to resemble a watch I had seen elsewhere. When I finally checked out the Coprolite watch I realized that what I was associating the watch with was no mere accident.

I am not totally sure of the nature of cooperation, but the watch is a combo of efforts from Artya and Guer Man (I wrote about their Trace watch here). The case is crafted in the Guer Man workshops. While Artya says the watch is a piece unique, this is not totally true. There will be more than one Coprolite watch, but because each dial is a unique piece of cut coprolite, then each dial will be unique. I tend to associate “piece unique” with watches that have only one watch planned, including minor variations. As such, the entire dial of the watch is coprolite with skeletonized twisted metal hands, and a long, double sided seconds hands (with a red tip where the indicator is).

Inside the watch is a Swiss automatic movement, which is visible through the back. Nothing fancy, but there is some interesting “weathering” on the automatic rotor. The watch case is water resistant to 30 meters and has a sapphire crystal. There are small horn-style lugs, where the crazy American toad leather strap is attached. And yes, toad makes for a pretty good strap material. If the color of the dial doesn’t suit you, I understand black toned coprolite dials will be also available. Price for this dinosaur shit watch will be just under $13,000. Which is a price, that when you pay it you don’t need to dance around the topic by using terms like “waste, fecal matter, feces, stool, or a like.” This is a shit watch. No, an historical shit watch – and that, in a sick sort of way – makes it pretty cool. Even if just to observe, or alternatively avoid. Stay tuned for more crazy stuff from Artya Swiss art watches. www.artya.com/