14 DAY TRIAL // A few days ago, we were telling you of a very fancy and odd luxury product: a pair of shoes with soles made of elephant dung and decorated with pearls, from British artist INSA. Luxury watchmaker Yvan Arpa of Artya has a similar offer, though his is priced much higher: an $11,290 watch with a dial made of coprolite, which is actually fossilized excrements, as the press release says.
This coprolite watch aims to be at the junction of history and art, since the excrements used are actually from a dinosaur, which explains the exorbitant price tag. As the luxury brand says (in a press release suggestively titled “This dial is [expletive], isn’t it? Yes, indeed, it is”), the watch is also very modern in craftsmanship and functions, which include being water resistant (up to 30 meters) and self winding mechanism that is visible through the open caseback.
“A relic of the Jurassic period, it has taken millions of years for this organic substance to embrace its present warm and matchless tints. Designed with an understated aesthetic sense, the dial is free of indexes or any other pointless features. In its mineral aspect, it forcefully underscores the pristine strength emanating from the very dawn of life. As a true memento, it is encircled in a round case sculpted in stainless steel grade 316 or, as an affirmation to its prehistoric lineage, in bronze with its characteristic blazing hues,” goes the description of the watch.
“In the manner of all Artya collections, the watchcase is considered as a challenging arena for excelling in decoration. Entirely manufactured in the secrecy of the Guer Man workshops tucked away in Ticino, Manuel Zanetti has chiseled, engraved and hammered away to obtain masculine and grainy curves and patterns. With plenty of character, the case makes a firm statement by an impressive architectural array of bold, contrasting volumes that enhance its generous proportions to perfection,” it is further being said.
To make matters even more interesting with this ultra chic timepiece, the band is made of blackened cane toad skin, which is reportedly very toxic in live cane toads and can even kill if ingested. The dinosaur whose feces have been used for the dial reportedly live 100 million years ago on US territory.