Fit and Finnish
By Curtis D. Thomson
Kari Voutilainen’s pieces
meet the criteria of some of the
most demanding collectors
Collectors of fine watches can be a demanding lot. They want not only technical excellence from their watches, but something that “sings” to them. They want a watch that speaks to their own aesthetics and ideas of fine watchmaking. The less off-the-rack and more bespoke, the better. Kari Voutilainen has built his reputation meeting the criteria of these demanding collectors.
The Finnish-born watchmaker has been realizing the dreams of private clients (industry and individuals) for nearly two decades from his workshop in the small Swiss village of Môtiers. Much of this work has been done under the radar.
This changed in 2005 when he exhibited with the AHCI at BaselWorld and debuted his world premier Decimal Repeater—Masterpiece No. 6 (piece unique, 2005).
The cleverness of the mechanism (sounding the minutes in ten-minute intervals), his high standard of execution and other worldly finish catapulted this humble craftsman into the public eye.
This success was followed with MP7—decimal repeater, with second time zone (piece unique, 2006); his in-house chronograph Caliber 25, with Carbontime oscillator (series of ten, 2006) and MP8 decimal minute repeater (piece unique, 2007), a busy two years, indeed, and enough for most.
Hold on… There’s More
BaselWorld 2007 included two new watches from Voutilainen. The first watch was Masterpiece No. 9, a unique piece that met a client’s desire for a large decimal repeater. Dubbed the “Tantalor,” the case is made from 18-karat white gold with the exception of the case band and lugs, which were made from Tantalum and proved to be a stunning combination. Kari made the case in-house. It measures 45 mm by 11 mm. The dial is engine-turned from gold and finished in anthracite, yielding a blue-gray color. The Arabic numbers are filled with Luminova, as are the minute markers.
While Voutilainen will happily use any style of hands the client wishes, the hands found on MP9 are becoming a bit of a trademark style. Made by Kari, they are crafted from gold and are rhodium-plated with blued steel inserts—and they are absolutely stunning.
Curtis D. Thomson is a watchmaker in Walpole, NH specializing in complications and restoring antiquarian pieces. He is also the founder of “tempered” (www.tempered-online.com), which provides a platform for the artists-craftsmen represented on the site.
