Short questions, short answers – Kari Voutilainen

During my ‘investigation’ for the Voutilainen Chronograph I stopped at some point and asked myself what is Mr. Voutilainen wearing at his wrist during the day. And if he likes watches (judging by his career pick), more than sure he has preferences. So I decided to ask him and Mr. Voutilainen responded. I would like to thank him for his time and answers.

Q: What watch do you have on the wrist every day?
A: ‘I am wearing quite often our Vingt-8 model but as well MB&F Legacy Machine.’

Q: On your own personal watch collection, which is your favourite? Or, if you still don’t have it, what are you dreaming of?
A: ‘I have purchased my dream watch – Urban Jürgensen Perpetual Calendar in pink gold. I would love to get Vianney Halter Antiqua, in pink gold…’

The Voutilainen Vingt-8 (calibre 28) is an in-house movement designed, build, fabricated, finished and assembled in the Voutilainen workshop.
The dial in silver, hand turned guilloche, has central hours and minutes and seconds at 6 o’clock with hands in gold and steel. The dial features 3 patterns offering great pleasure to the eyes of the watcher.

A beautiful collection of pictures and ‘hands on’ done by Su Jia Xian available at http://www.watchesbysjx.com/2011/11/close-look-at-vingt-8-by-kari.html

The MB&F Legacy machine is something different. Born in the dreams of Maximilian Büsser (http://mbandf.com/mbandf/mbandf/), fantasising about the future and the past. The most impressive feature of this watch is the position of the balance wheel – above everything else.

The LM1 is a collective effort of Jean-François Mojon (calibre development) and Kari Voutilainen (aesthetic design and fine finishing).

The Urban Jürgensen Perpetual Calendar is a beautiful watch, well proportioned and originated from Copenhagen. The 38mm case contains a perpetual calendar in a 2.4mm thin calibre – FP71. That is thin!

 

The Urban Jürgensen Perpetual Calendar

This watch manufactured in the traditional way is offered in white gold, yellow gold or platinum and features a beautiful moon-phase at 12 o’clock, date at 6 o’clock and date and month at 9 and respectively 3 o’clock.  This is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful dial layout.

More details can be found on their website: http://www.ujs-chronometry.ch/collection_private.php 

 

The Vianney Halter Antiqua Perpetual Calendar is one of the best examples of craftsmanship. The details are everywhere, overwhelming for an advised eye.

Vianney Halter Antiqua

The combination of brushed and polished finishes is found everywhere and the shape of the watch is unusual. The mirror-polished parts and the brushed ones create a depth effect making the dials to be more important than the rest of the watch. Your eyes are running from dial to dial, being hard to look at other details without ‘feeling’ the dial’s presence. The black enamel filling for the letters and numbers (hand engraved before) also creates a nice contrast, making the dials easier to read. Don’t get me wrong – when you have so many beautiful details and finishes you need something to anchor yourself to. The perpetual calender features hours and minutes in one dial, months and years in another, day and date in other two individual ‘windows’.

 Details of Antiqua

 

The way that  the dial mirrors itself in the flanks emphasizes its beauty and importance. In this case, the devil is in the detail’s detail.

Back side of the Antiqua

 

The back side of the Antiqua is equally full of details and, starting with the crown (24 gold rivets inserted in a drilled tube), continuing with the shape of the case and all the small elements, it is a masterpiece and I can fully understand the wish of Mr. Voutilainen to own one.

More details regarding this piece can be found on Mr. Halter’s website: http://www.vianney-halter.com/antiqua.php

The pictures of Antiqua were taken from: http://www.watchesbysjx.com/2011/04/look-at-creations-of-vianney-halter.html and I would like to thank Su Jia Xian for letting me use these pictures from his blog (Thank you, SJX!). His article contains very beautiful pictures of Antiqua and more details about it.

At the end a big Thank you! to Mr. Voutilainen, the pictures of Vingt-8 are from his website:  http://www.voutilainen.ch/

The pictures of LM1 are from: http://www.mbandf.com/. I recommend a look, the level of “awesomeness” is high there.

The Urban Jürgensen picture is from their website, which also deserves a look: http://www.ujs-chronometry.ch/index.php