Hands-On: Kari Voutilainen’s 20th Anniversary Tourbillon
Thirty years ago, Kari Voutilainen finished the first step on a path that would ultimately change the direction of his career. Like all good stories (in my universe, at least), it began with a pocket watch. While employed at Michel Parmigiani’s restoration workshop (where he worked from 1990 to 1999), Voutilainen worked after hours on his first-ever watch. The project took three years to complete, but by 1994, Voutilainen had created a one-minute tourbillon pocket watch in the style of Abraham-Louis Breguet. Ten years later, Voutilainen launched the first watches under his own brand name. And now, Voutilainen has brought it all full circle with his 20th Anniversary watch – a one-minute tourbillon in wristwatch form.
Some coverage of this watch is undoubtedly overdue. The 20th Anniversary Tourbillon series was announced in April and, unfortunately, common to announcements from several independents, got smothered by the crush of Watches & Wonders commercial releases. This is decidedly something much, much different. The series totals 61 pieces – 20 pieces in platinum, 20 in white gold, 20 in rose gold, and one in stainless steel – with prices between CHF 275,000 (in rose) and CHF 278,000 in white gold or platinum. The dial design draws from Voutilainen’s original tourbillon pocket watch, with a charming off-centered display.
Voutilainen’s First-Ever watch, the One-Minute Tourbillon Pocket Watch. Photo: courtesy Kari Voutilainen
Over the last 20 years, Voutilainen has made a name for himself not only for his phenomenal dial work, but also for his mastery of complications and the particular style in which he executes them. Perpetual calendars, minute repeaters chimed off a turning bezel, chronographs – he’s done nearly everything. His “28TI” is one of my favorites, putting his movement philosophy on prominent display by inverting the movement and placing it on the dial side. But I think you could easily argue that the tourbillon is the perfect representation of the man and his career and that the 20th Anniversary models are his best distillation of himself in a watch yet.
I went hands-on with two examples, one in platinum with a blue hand guilloché dial and silvered accents from the solid silver base, the other in stainless steel with a creamy white dial and red accents (a pièce unique). There were things on each dial I liked individually – the color of the blue dial, the guilloché pattern on the white dial – and luckily, buyers will be able to customize these things as you are able to on most of Voutilainen’s watches.
That’s a double-edged sword in some respects. Kari has a particularly good eye when it comes to the pieces and dials he designs and creates personally, but frankly, his customers sometimes fall short. I respect that Kari believes someone paying about $300,000 for a watch should be able to make some aesthetic decisions, but I think there should be guard rails. But I digress.
I know people love Voutilainen’s dials, but for me, it’s all about the movement, and this is no exception. The watch features a brand new hand-wound Tourbillon 22 movement inspired by the architecture of the caliber found in his first pocket watch. The watch features dual barrels and 72 hours of power reserve, plus the one-minute tourbillon beating at 18,000 vibrations/hour. And yet the architecture isn’t identical, with the winding crown moved to the normal 3 o’clock position you expect from a wristwatch (among other changes).
Voutilainen’s first-ever watch, the One-Minute Tourbillon Pocket Watch. Photo courtesy Kari Voutilainen.
The finishing is immaculate, as it always is, and the tourbillon features extra touches like a hairspring with Phillips terminal curve and Grossman internal curve. There’s also hand engraving of Voutilainen’s name on the movement. You can notice the depth of the anglage and the contrast against the grained and gilded finishing of the plates. The watch itself measures 13mm thick, due in part to the fact that Voutilainen prefers to do his bridge construction the old-fashioned way and secures parts with screws only (no gluing). That means each part needs to be thick enough to take a screw that can turn enough times and won’t strip out of the plate.
Then there are things that set this watch apart from any recent release from Voutilainen and add to how special it is. Instead of using the teardrop lugs that are common on his watches, the 20th Anniversary Tourbillon features straight lugs and a knurled pattern on the side, mirroring that original pocket watch. The lugs are still relatively short and rounded at the tip, rather than copying things like elongated Vichet lugs.
Unlike the original pocket watch, the small seconds display is offset at about five o’clock on the dial instead of six o’clock. It’s less symmetrical, but it still balances out the fact that the time indication is a bit higher. The power reserve indication is also moved to about 8:30 on the dial. It’s a subtle difference, and it worked just as well as the original.
I could imagine that a buyer might be concerned about the size (again, 40mm by 13mm) but on the wrist, its just a charming and wearable piece of independent watchmaking. Certainly the stainless steel pièce unique wears slightly better – being lighter and all – but I don’t think anyone would be upset by the upgraded heft. The movement itself is already substantial and contributes to the weight.
Just a quick note to revisit the dials. I never cease to be impressed with what Voutilainen and his team do with their hand guillochéd dials. Thanks to his own company, Comblémine, you can see more and more craftsmanship like this on the market than you would ever have had 20 years ago, but there’s something indescribable that sets his own watches apart.
One amazing detail I loved was this numerals on the steel piece. The depth and three dimensionality of the inky blackness was just phenomenal. Its the kind of thing that will stick in my head as a detail I’d want if I’m ever lucky enough to commission my own watch some day, as unlikely as that is.
There’s only so much that can be said about a watch like this, especially at this price. These watches will likely go to homes and watch boxes full of Voutilainen’s already, so I feel there is no need to justify the price or any individual decision made with the 20th Anniversary Tourbillon. It’s certainly, in a word, beautiful.
It’s also a fitting tribute to his career thus far. But there’s also something indescribable about Voutilainen’s work, not just the dials, that makes it all come together so well. While other people have tried to emulate him or build their own aesthetics around the very same individual parts that make his watches so good (things like the hand-guilloché dials, for instance), there’s an ineffable quality about his ability to get the whole picture just right.
Kari Voutilainen Tourbillon 20th Anniversary, 40mm diameter by 13mm thick white gold case (with platinum and rose gold options available). Dial made of a solid silver base with hand-guilloché pattern. Guilloché patterns and colors are tailored to individual requests. Partially-blued open-tipped hands made of steel with polished bercé surface. Hours, minutes, small seconds, power reserve, and tourbillon. Voutilainen’s hand-wound Tourbillon 22 movement; 28 jewels, with grained and gilded finishing; Double-barrel with 72h power reserve; One-minute tourbillon running at 18,000 vibrations/hour; hairspring with Phillips terminal curve and Grossman internal curve. 20 pieces in platinum, 20 pieces in white gold, 20 pieces in rose gold, one piece in stainless steel. Price: CHF 275,000 for rose gold, CHF 278,000 for white gold or platinum.
Hodinkee
