Finnish nature brought to life on a night dial.
Some reckon the personified Moon which appears on the dials of so many of Stepan Sarpaneva's watches bears an uncanny resemblance to the watchmaker himself.
In one interview given by the Finnish watchmaker, he admitted that he hadn't set this as a goal from the outset but couldn't deny there were similarities now. Either the Moon on Sarpaneva’s watches looks like him or the watchmaker's own features have grown similar to the image he created over time.
The Sarpaneva Nocturne introduces a new character — an owl who once again seems to have inherited its creator's traits.
Not only has Sarpaneva passed on his appearance, the watch also shares his character. Working far from the Swiss watchmaking hubs, Sarpaneva develops models with a connection to the Finnish environment.
The long nights define the central character — the Moon and a beacon of light. Sarpaneva is considered a master when it comes to working with luminescent materials: daylight hours are too short in Finland to have a watch rendered useless once darkness falls. That's when Sarpaneva's watches come to life.
The Finnish graphic novelist and illustrator Ville Tietäväinen worked on Sarpaneva Nocturne's nocturnal illustration. The multi-layered dial of the Sarpaneva Nocturne features a lower plate with 233 openings, hand-painted using eight different tones of Super-Luminova.
Sarpaneva Nocturne
The novelty's six-part dial is a typical shape for Sarpaneva. The case measures 42 mm in diameter (46 mm lug-to-lug) and 11.4 mm in height. Fans can tell a Sarpaneva watch by its signature sharp hands.
Sarpaneva hasn't tired of emphasizing his loyalty to Finnish metal: the case is made of an alloy called SUPRA 316L/4435 by Outokumpu, one of the largest steel manufacturers in Europe. The watch is equipped with a modified Soprod A10 movement with an in-house plate for the lunar complication.
This automatic movement has a power reserve of 42 hours. Sarpaneva Nocturne is available in two colourway versions with orange or white Super-Luminova for the Moonface. The limit set for both colourways is 30 pieces so that the independent brand which still believes in creating watches by hand can cope with the volume of orders.