SINGAPORE – He is one of the most celebrated independent watchmakers of his generation, a man whose creations are so coveted, they command staggering prices at auction. Yet, Mr Rexhep Rexhepi does not want to talk about success.

Instead, the 38-year-old founder of Akrivia wants to talk about failure, frustration and the formative power of hardship.

“If it’s not hard, you shouldn’t believe in it,” he says, articulating the guiding principle of his life and work. It is a mantra inherited from his late paternal grandmother, a belief forged in the crucible of a difficult childhood and tempered by years of struggle.​

Born in Kosovo in 1987, Mr Rexhepi led an early life that was far from the serene precision of the Swiss watches he would one day create. 

He was raised by his grandmother after his mother left when he was three, while his father worked in Switzerland. His earliest memories are punctuated by his father’s visits home and the Tissot watch on his wrist.

“I would take it from his wrist and listen to the tick tock, tick tock. It was a piece of magic and I was intrigued,” says Mr Rexhepi on a recent visit to Singapore.

In 1998, at the age of 12, he joined his father in Geneva, escaping the Kosovo war.

Adapting to a new country and language was a challenge.

“You have to adapt to everything. You don’t want to leave the country, but you leave. You have to just make these changes; you don’t have a choice.”

Fortunately, the young immigrant found his calling. At 15, he secured a coveted apprenticeship at the venerable Patek Philippe, a testament to his prodigious talent.

Though his father had dreamt of him becoming a doctor or lawyer, Mr Rexhepi’s path was set. After his time at Patek Philippe, he further honed his skills at the workshop of another master independent, F.P. Journe.​

But the d...