Akrivia
- Founded
- 2012
- Based in
- Geneva, Switzerland
- In our catalog
- 1 watch from $90,000 to $110,000
Akrivia is the workshop of Rexhep Rexhepi, and its watches are usually sold under his name: the Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain. The name Akrivia comes from the Greek word for precision. Output is tiny, the waiting list is long, and pieces that reach the open market tend to sell for several times their original price.
History
Rexhepi was born in Kosovo and moved to Geneva as a boy. He started an apprenticeship at Patek Philippe at fifteen, then worked at the movement developer BNB Concept and in the workshop of François-Paul Journe. In 2012, in his mid-twenties, he opened his own atelier in Geneva's old town.
The first Akrivia watches were tourbillons, which got him noticed in the independent world. The turning point was the Chronomètre Contemporain of 2018, a deliberately simple time-only watch that won the men's watch prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève that year. It showed that the strength of the workshop was not complication for its own sake but how well a classic watch could be made.
In 2021 Rexhepi made a one-off second version for the Only Watch charity auction, which led to the Chronomètre Contemporain II in 2022. He has since worked with Louis Vuitton on a joint chiming chronograph, and the workshop has grown, though production remains measured in dozens of pieces a year.
Signature models
- Chronomètre Contemporain: The 2018 hand-wound time-only watch with a grand feu enamel dial and a movement finished entirely by hand.
- Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain II: The follow-up, with a new caliber that uses two separate gear trains, one for timekeeping and one for a deadbeat seconds hand at six o'clock that ticks once a second and resets to zero.
- AK-06: A sporty integrated-bracelet piece that showed a more modern side of the workshop.
What it's known for
Finishing that stands comparison with anything in Geneva: black-polished steel parts, sharp interior angles that can only be done by hand, and movement layouts drawn to look balanced through the caseback. The cases on the Chronomètre Contemporain II were made by Jean-Pierre Hagmann, a celebrated case maker. Akrivia is also a reference point for a new generation of young independents who have built their names on simple, perfectly executed watches.
Price and positioning
Retail prices for the Chronomètre Contemporain range from tens of thousands to around a hundred thousand dollars, but getting one at retail means being chosen from a waiting list. On the secondary market prices are much higher. Akrivia belongs in the same conversation as F.P. Journe and Philippe Dufour rather than as a mainstream luxury brand.
Akrivia watches in our library
- Akrivia Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain II ($90,000 to $110,000)