ArtyA Bye Bye Euro

Swiss luxury watch brand ArtyA launches the rebellious Bye Bye Euro timepiece as a reply to a Swiss National Bank (SNB)’s recent monetary policy that faced severe criticism from the traditional watch making industry that employes thousands of people in the country.

On 15th January this year, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) abandoned its cap on the franc/euro exchange rate. Until then, this had kept the rate at €1 = 1.20 Swiss francs and no less. The Swiss economy may be trembling as a result, but some have chosen to see this turn of events as the seed of a unique watchmaking concept.

Indeed, ArtyA has weathered more than its fair share of crises, and this will be neither the first nor, doubtless, the last. The creative opportunity has not been lost on Yvan Arpa, ArtyA’s indomitable CEO and designer. If this is the last the Swiss Franc is seeing of the euro, he’s determined to give it a send-off in style.

The Bye Bye Euro is a timepiece that uses actual euro banknotes. Just like the late exchange rate, the bills are history now: worn out, cut into strips, and scattered apparently at random across the dial, as befits a crisis.The 42 mm timepiece may cause a bit of a stir, but it tells the truth as well as the time. You can see it as commemorating the end of an era, or as a sign that we’re at the start of a new one.