Sponsored: Swiss Made, Los Angeles Born – Artel Rotec Debuts with the New V Series
True value in the entry-level luxury space is few and far between— in particular for watches with proprietary movements and interesting designs. That is, of course, unless you’re Artel Rotec, a new Los Angeles founded, Swiss made brand now making its horological debut in its novel V Series collection.
Artel Rotec first formed in 2018, when designer and longtime watch collector Matthew Roknipour launched the brand as a family owned, independent watch company with a keen focus on value-driven, avant-garde design. Four years later, countless hours of research and development, and a steady dose of personal passion behind the project and the brand now yields its first collection in the limited edition, sports-driven, luxury-minded V Series.
The new collection, which includes the red-accented V1, blue stylized V2, and rose gold flourished V3, came as a result of Artel Rotec and its manufacturing partner in the small watchmaking town of Botyre, Switzerland, Swisstech. In collaboration with Swisstech and its renowned designer Rodolphe Cattin, Artel Rotec developed the V Series line, and furthermore the caliber ART052 driving it, with the automatic movement featuring a proprietary design and now serving as the heart of the new collection.
As a whole, the V Series is an exclusive lineup of timepieces that embodies some of the best of sports-focused watchmaking, hand-built quality, and the smart use of high-grade materials like forged carbon composite. At once both raw and polished in its looks, the uncommon aesthetic of the V Series watches makes them for ideal modern companions on the wrist, with their lightweight design and urban-geared looks presenting a style perfect for those with looking for a timepiece with strong and fearless wear.
Taking a closer look at the V series, we come to the aforementioned trio of novelties in the V1, V2, and V3, with each distinguished by their accenting colorway. With an integrated tonneau case shape sized at 41mm by 14mm, the V series watches are bold on the wrist without being overbearing, measuring 46.5mm in their effective lug-to-lug length, or 51mm when accounting for the tapering aspect lugs into the integrated bracelet.
With a construction of forged carbon composite, the 50m water resistance watches are supremely lightweight in their wear while simultaneously ready for anything, with the sporty design backed up with manufactured practicality for the everyday. This sentiment is furthered by the choice of two straps the watches come standard with, including a Black FKM rubber option and a nylon pressed calf leather.
Beneath a curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on its interior we come to the partially skeletonized dial of the V Series watches, with a view of the caliber ART052 seamlessly integrating into background of the rugged aesthetic. Embodying a sport-luxury design with its CNC milled cut outs and a multi-layered, depth, the dial is marked by its spots of color accenting alongside its matte black and metallic look.
The dial makes use of a big date display at the 12 o’clock position, it accompanied by a power reserve indicator in parallel at the 6 o’clock and a small seconds counter at the 9 o’clock. An Artel Rotec logo resides at the last quarter of the dial, while a pair of bold sword-style hands with center marks of Super-Luminova passes over it all.
Flipping the V Series watches over, you can catch an exhibition view of the proprietary Swiss Made, ART052 movement. Captivating in its finishing and quality, the in-house designed and hand-assembled mechanism is capable of a 50-hour power reserve. The movement is perfectly equipped for the V Series watches it powers, allowing wearers to fulfill Artel Rotec’s motto, “Our story is your next step,” as to emphasize the dynamic and developing history of this young brand and its clientele.
Each new watch in Artel Rotec’s V Series will be limited to 100 total editions, with each of the timepieces currently marked at $2,400 USD, inclusive of tax and worldwide shipping.
To learn more, visit Artel Rotec, here.
