Independents

tony p
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A winter visit to Môtiers

It's been some considerable time since I posted on PuristsPro. However, I'm back, and plan to gradually start posting photos from my trip to Switzerland this last January.

I was inspired to finally post this set of shots by seeing the Kari Voutilainen Vingt-8 "Purists IGOTT Edition" unique pieces over in the Collectors Market section. This is not intended as a shill. However, the photos (most likely supplied to PPro by Kari himself) were actually taken by me as long ago as Saturday, 22 January. They are in fact the first photos ever taken of the new model. And there's a story behind that...

It's an interesting story. I finished up at SIHH around 3pm on the Friday and immediately caught a train up to Môtiers, in the gorgeous Val de Travers, where Kari has his home and workshop in a magnificent century-old villa on the outskirts of town.

There was a light dusting of snow on the ground at Môtiers, which is a fair way up the Travers valley and therefore lies at some altitude. The valley has steep sides which admit relatively little sunlight in winter. It was cold.





Ever the gentleman, Kari met me at the station and we drove back to his villa. On the way, we passed the school in which he has enrolled his children -





Kari's villa is grand and beautiful, and set in the middle of magnificent grounds. Incredibly, it seems such places are relatively commonplace in Switzerland, and not as exorbitantly expensive as one might think. It's an ideal location for an independent watchmaker - quiet but convenient, close to Fleurier where there are many useful ancillary services such as case- and dial-makers (as well as powerhouse medium-size manufactures such as Chopard LUC and Vaucher).





Kari and his family live on the lower floors, and his workshops are located in the attic. (There is also a basement, where the heavy machinery such as kilns and CNC machines reside). The attic is well-lit with dormer windows and has been expertly renovated to allow maximum use of space and light. It's a very pleasant working environment for Kari's small team of dedicated artisans -





On the walls I espied various working diagrams of escapements. Perhaps this particular design inspired Kari in his work on his own rather revolutionary escapement -





On Friday evening I got a very quick look at the new Vingt-8, which had just been cased up and still had no hands on it. Then it was off for dinner at a local establishment, and an early night in a very comfortable little inn located a little further along the valley.

Saturday morning I arrived back at Kari's to find him looking a little bleary-eyed. "I was up until 3am", he explained. It appears that after dropping me at my hotel, Kari had gone back to the workshop for a marathon session of assembly and final adjustments, to produce a fully working, finished timepiece ready for my photography the next day. I listened with ever-widening eyes as Kari explained to me that the complete watch in front of me had been born just a few hours ago: it had never previously been cased up with hands and strap, and with fully functioning and adjusted movement. I thus had the unique honour of being the very first person apart from Kari himself to behold the new Vingt-8 in its final, working form.

That state of grace didn't last long. No sooner had I set up my light booth and flash rig than we were joined by none other than Jeff Kingston, himself toting a much more extensive rig of photo gear. But hey, I had first dibs, and for the next couple of hours I snapped away until I felt I had a sufficient number of useable pixels.

I fully planned to post-process the shots and have them uploaded to the web that evening, but instead Kari insisted on driving the two of us (Jeff had already left in the early afternoon) down to Neuchatel for a look-see (tourist snaps to follow) and a bite at a local establishment. I was due to catch the early train out the next morning - and with a very tight travel itinerary (I had to get to Romania, of all places, the very next day), I simply couldn't afford to miss that train. So I packed and went to bed instead.

When next I logged on - two days later - someone had already scooped me. It appears Kari had some more visitors on the Sunday...

So, some five months later, I have finally roused myself to action. Here are the very first photos of the Voutilainen Vingt-8, with my insincere apologies for the delay.

First, the presentation box. The new box for the Vingt-8 is smaller than that which houses the Observatoires, but I believe it is made by the same artisan - Cédric Vichard, whose own atelier is located in the next village of Couvet -








And so to the timepiece itself -











Kari has opted for a tang buckle instead of the deployant supplied with the Observatoires. I actually really like this buckle. I never felt that the deployant's somewhat angular design was fully in keeping with the sensuous curves of the watch itself -





Movement bridges are in maillechort or German silver. Kari's original intention was for all the Vingt-8s to have their bridges finished in frosting, but I believe this has changed since then. I love the frosted finish, which I chose for my own KV piece; but I'm sure many others prefer the extra detail imparted by Geneva stripes. Vive la différence!














Here's one of the shots from the Collectors Market post. You can see a couple of fine scratches on the plate that holds the central pinion. I stress that this watch, superbly finished though it is, is actually a working prototype which Kari has probably assembled and disassembled dozens of times, as various tests and alterations were performed to optimise the movement's performance. Watches offered for sale would certainly not be allowed to sport such imperfections. Incidentally, in this shot you can also clearly see the double escape wheels under the balance assembly -














This is probably my favourite shot of the series. Kari's lugs are really something else -





It just so happened that I had my own Observatoire with me. So of course it seemed appropriate to take a couple of comparison shots -





Unlike the Observatoire, the balance spring on the new Vingt-8 is not blued, but it still has the Phillips terminal curve. There is a prosaic explanation for this, which alas I forget now -





I love the architecture of Kari's first in-house movement. That big free-standing balance bridge is just breathtaking, and at the same time it's quirky and somewhat eccentric. Only an independent would dare to make such a departure from accepted movement design norms -





The new case is almost identical to that of the Observatoire, but with a subtly changed curve to the bezel -





Observe the little quick-release button where the strap joins the lugs. This has been a feature of Kari's watches for several years -





Not only is the new Vingt-8's movement designed and made in-house; the dials are now also hand-guilloched in Kari's atelier -





As I have already explained, I never did get round to posting these shots - until now. But I did email a few of them to Kari, and I feel very honoured that he has seen fit to utilise them. It's a very small way of repaying him for all the generous hospitality I received that weekend in Môtiers.


Cheers
Tony P

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