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CULTURAL VOCABULARY
A GUIDE TO CURIOUS WORDS AND GESTURES FROMAROUND THE GLOBE
Reaction Time
A REBEL CHALLENGES A TRADITIONALLY
SHOCK-RESISTANTWATCH INDUSTRY
In an industrial building next door to some horse
stables, Yvan Arpa, founder and CEO of renegade
watch company Artya, tugs on a pair of rubber boots
and dons a heavy apron. A Tesla coil whirs to life a
few feet away, and the 47-year-old watch designer
approaches it. Like something out of an old sci-fi flick,
a million volts of electricity jump from the coil to a
watch case that he’s holding out in front of him. After
a couple of seconds, when themetal has been scarred
toArpa’s satisfaction, themachine is powered down.
Although the scene contrasts dramaticallywith the
image of watchmaker as quiet craftsman hunched
over a workbench, this particular timepiece is actu-
ally one of the less extreme things this former math
professor has loosed upon the watchworld. He’smade watches out of moon dust, shredded euros and even guitar
picks used by the bandKiss. At last year’s BaselWorld—the annual convention that drawsmore than 1,800 jewelers
andwatchmakers to Switzerland to display their wares—Arpa brought onewatchmade of fossilized dinosaur dung
and another featuring rusted metal from the
Titanic
. (For this year’s show, which runs March 8-15, he says he’s
bringing something “for the kids” but declines, somewhat ominously, to elaborate.)
Why go to such extremes? “Nobody really needs awatch to tell time anymore,” Arpa explains. “Wewear watches
as trophies, to show the world our values. And tome, art is one of themost important values.” It’s an ethos he lives
by—along with, apparently, hypercreativity. “My assistant tells me that every sentence I say starts with ‘I have an
idea,’” he says, laughing. “But she also knows me well enough to serve herbal tea and decaf coffee, so she can have
a safe day at the office.”
—SAM POLCER
VÉSENAZ, SWITZERLAND
EGYPT
With your palm up, hold your
fingers together and move
your hand up and down to tell
someone “wait,” “calm down”
or “relax.”
taarradhin:
This Arabic
word describes a solution
in which everyone wins or
saves face.
ARGENTINA
In Italy, sweeping the back of
your fingers forward under
your chin is especially rude,
but in Argentina this gesture
means simply “I don’t know.”
autobombo:
The Spanish
word for “self-praise” is like
“blow your own trumpet,” but
with a bass drum (“bombo”).
AUSTRALIA
Place your empty glass
upside down on the bar and
you may end up with a black
eye—it signals you’re ready
to rumble.
barney:
Try the maneuver
described above, and you’ll
probably find yourself in the
middle of this (a fight).
THAILAND
When combined with a bow,
pressing your palms together
in front of you is an all-
purpose gesture of greeting,
farewell and respect known as
the
wai
.
mao:
Too many Singhas and
you’ll end up this way (drunk).
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MARCH 2012
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