Kari Voutilainen: a Master's Journey. Part Three

All of Voutilainen's watches have a decorative appearance, and the wonderful guilloché dials play no small part, especially on models with time-zone displays.

The first decorative watch in the master's collection with a striking hand-crafted dial only appeared in 2013. This first decorative model was the one-of-a-kind 28 Sarasamon enclosed in a 37 mm yellow-gold case. Its dial features Saiei Maki-e and Somata Zaiku lacquering techniques by one of Japan's greatest lacquer artists — Tatsuo Kitamura.

Kari Voutilainen turned to the same Japanese lacquer artist to create more dials for subsequent watches. Other watches they created in partnership are a 28 Sarasamon model in a white-gold case, Hisui (2014), 28 Oukamon (2014), Kaen (2016), Aki-No-Kure (2017), Hatou (2020), Yozakura (2020) and the Green Garden Cased Tantalum (2021), all of which are one-of-a-kind pieces.

The Starry Night Vine (2019) is a special one. The upper half of the dial is decorated using Japanese lacquerware techniques while the bottom is decorated is using cloisonné enameling techniques. The lower half was created by Anita Porchet, one of the greatest Swiss enamelists, probably the best in the world.

A unique version of Caliber 28 was developed for this watch with a lacquered mainspring barrel bridges (standard for Voutilainen's watches with lacquer dials), with a power reserve indicator in the shape of a bottle of wine on the caseback.

Voutilainen acquired the dial manufacturer Dialtech SA in 2014, which is situated in the neighboring village of Saint-Sulpice not far from his workshop in Môtiers. He needed a reliable supplier for his dials, primarily for one-of-a-kind pieces or extremely limited series, whereas most third-party suppliers are very reluctant to take on these kinds of orders. 

That's why the best solution was to buy the business. The acquired company was renamed Comblémine after the street in Môtiers where Voutilainen Artisan d’Horlogerie d’Art is located. The manufacturer doesn't just make dials for collections by Voutilainen's brand, it also makes dials for modest series by other brands like MB&F, Schwarz Etienne and Richard Mille.

Voutilainen also set up a watch case assembly service for corporate clients at Comblémine. Acquiring the dial manufacturer allowed Voutilainen to diversify his watch designs, and the collection welcomed models featuring dials decorated with new and rather complicated guilloché patterns, including optical-illusion pieces — something Voutilainen is now renowned for. 

The Tourbillon-6 introduced in 2014 and limited to six pieces was given a remarkably beautiful hand-finished deep blue and silver guilloché dial. It was Voutilainen's first tourbillon series, and more importantly, the watchmaker equipped the tourbillon with his brand's recognizable escapement with two direct-impulse escape wheels. This 39 mm watch was joined by the unique Tourbillon 37mm in a smaller case with a modified movement.

Caliber 28 still provides a flexible basis for the brand's selection, which can be adapted to create the most diverse range of watch styles, from jewelry watches to complicated timepieces. It must be said that when Kari Voutilainen sets out to create a jewelry watch, the result is always extraordinary. That's just the word to describe the one-of-a-kind Scintillante watch unveiled in 2016.

The case's white-gold bezel and lugs are encrusted with rubies, and the case ring is set with different colored stones with varying cuts scattered randomly and snow set, which come together to create the impression of autumn leaves.

Rubies as well as orange and yellow navette-cut sapphires serve as the dial's hour markers, which are encircled by diamonds in a paved setting with an engine-turned and gray enameled central rosace. In 2017, the watchmaker presented new modified versions of his base movement and the watches housing it.

The additional function offered by the 28R12 model was a power reserve indicator positioned at 12 o'clock. For the Vingt-8 ISO watch, Voutilainen used an exotic variety of the so-called rehaut dial, which looks pretty much like an ordinary Vingt-8 until you take a closer look.

The hour hand rotates around the dial in the usual way, but the minute hand is accompanied by a rotating minute scale which turns at the same rate as the hour hand. This results in drastic changes to the rule for how we tell the time.

A new hour begins when the minute hand catches up with the hour hand, and the minutes are read on the rotating chapter ring with the minute track. The dial on the 217QRS looks more familiar, which has a uniquely constructed retrograde date mechanism.

The date hand doesn't jump back to the 1st once it reaches the 31st like most of these types of watches do nowadays. This one takes a few seconds to return. The watch was introduced in 2018 and limited to 30 pieces (ten platinum pieces, ten in white gold, and ten in rose gold).

 Kari Voutilainen changed the case design for this model by making the bezel concave and also used new lugs, departing from his usual tear-drop shape. Despite all of this, the watch held onto Voutilainen's recognizable style.

The new case design was used for the main novelties in 2020 — the 28SC watch with a center second hand and a modified version of Caliber 28 to support this function, as well as the 28Sport, which was the first sports watch in the brand's collection.

The “sandwich” dial made for the 28Sport was a new construction for the brand, applying a luminescent coating was a first as well, which highlights the hour markers and stands out against the dial's onyx centers. The white-gold hour and minute hands are also highlighted in lume. This model was limited to eight titanium pieces.

The 28Ti watch released in 2019 also has a titanium case but the movement is installed in the case inversely so that the reverse side with the bridges and balance is now face-up in the case. The same Caliber 28 is used in these watches, but it's a significantly modified version.

The idea behind these watches is to showcase all the beauty of Voutilainen's watch mechanics, which is why the direction of the hour and minute hands has been reversed. They've been taken from the old “dial side” and brought over to the side with the bridges, while the old “dial side” is where the small seconds and power reserve indicator are now.

Kari Voutilainen is devoting a great deal of attention to developing his own brand, yet he still continues to work for other brands. He's managed to take part in a number of interesting joint projects, although far from every project in partnership is made public.

What is known is that he partnered with the Swiss manufacturer of complicated movements Jean-François Mojon in 2011 to develop series of movements for Legacy Machine by MB&F: Legacy Machine 1 (2011), Legacy Machine 2 (2013), Legacy Machine 101 (2014) and Legacy Machine Thunderdome (2019).

In 2012, he helped develop a movement for the Chapter Three Reveal watch by the watch brand Maîtres du Temps. The Swiss independent watchmaker Andreas Strehler worked on the project to develop the movement with him, and Voutilainen also took on the task of giving the movement its final finishing.

Kari Voutilainen has built a reputation for himself. He's now one of the most famous and most highly respected independent watchmakers, and he's also regarded as an accomplished specialist when it comes to applying high-grade finishing to watch movements.

His brand's watches are either one-of-a-kind pieces or released in very small series, with only a few dozen pieces manufactured on a yearly basis, and this coupled with Voutilainen's premier finishing means all of his watches are guaranteed to be collector's pieces.