Stepan Sarpaneva: from Harley-Davidsons to a niche brand. Part 2.

A big step in pushing forward the collection of his main brand, Sarpaneva, was the 2006 release of Loiste II Moonphase watch with a moon-phase display and the lattice dial.

The moon, though not yet sporting its signature angry expression, was also present in Supernova (2007), where Sarpaneva experimented with an asymmetrical dial layout. The famous angry moon happened, as is often the case, by chance.

In late 2007, Stepan received a phone call from Vianney Halter offering him to join the upcoming Baselworld 2008 as part of the collective booth of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI).

Although he’s never been part of the AHCI, Sarpaneva agreed and in just a few months left before the exhibition made prototypes of three new watches - Korona K1 (lattice dial), K2 (lattice dial and open movement) and K3, the latter featuring a moon-phase display.

Stepan had previously used a moon in the form of a simple metal disc in Loiste II and Supernova, but this time, driven by the idea to create a more expressive image, he depicted a moon’s face - or rather what he pictured as one in his head. Sarpaneva’s moon is textured, with hand finishing. In Korona K3, a legacy piece to Loiste II Moonphase, the display is as large as possible, lending the dial of the new watch an imposing look.

K1, K2 and K3 had a classic case with the winding crown set at 3 o’clock, and the familiar arc-like cuts around the perimeter serving as the sole reminder of the previous model, Loiste. The lattice dial of the first Korona watch was quite an ingenious invention of the master. Its roots go back to the industrial designs, specifically metal grills used to shield circles around tree trunks in cities.

In 2009, he changed the design of Korona watches, made them even more recognizable, more distinctive. The signature arc-like cuts made it to the cases of Korona K3 Moonphase Gold, the first golden watch of the series, as well as the steel Korona K3 Harvest Moon and Korona K2 Kaamos (2010).

The new case also fitted well with Korona Moonshine which was introduced in late 2010 and might as well be one of the most memorable timepieces the Finnish master has ever made. The iconic angry moon covers the dial almost entirely, leaving little place for time indication (the watch itself) and for quite an inventive moon-phase display.

In 2014, new versions of this incredibly awesome watch appeared, with the winding crown shifted to 4 o’clock. This modification was made after the success of Korona K0, the first dive watch of the brand (2012), in which the winding crown was also set at the 4-hour marker.

Now that all design codes of Korona watches were in place, Stepan Sarpaneva only had to carefully research new ideas while keeping intact the successfully found layout. When creating Korona K3 Northern Stars (2011) he removed the lattice dial and decorated the surface of the moon-phase display’s disc with star-shaped apertures.

Korona K1 Enamel (2013) was fitted with an enameled dial; the dial of Korona K3 Northern Stars Black Enamel (2016) came in a fancy black enamel; for Korona Kosmos (2014) he experimented with an asymmetrical, single-moon dial layout; dials of three models of Korona K0 Northern Lights (2015) had lume markings of different shades; and to finish the dial of Korona K3 Northern Stars Guilloché (2017) he used textured guilloché decor; he also released Korona K1 models with guilloché dials. 

He  obviously enjoyed working with decoration watches. In 2013, he manufactured Woodoo Moon Piece Unique, a highly provocative timepiece with a diamond-encrusted Woodoo mask put there in place of the iconic angry moon of the Korona Moonshine watches (second version of the design).

In 2017, Korona K0.3 Engraved Unique Piece, a truly unique timepiece with a fully engraved case, was released; for Korona K0 Seasons (2016) featuring a luminescent dial in four shades, one for each season, he decorated the caseback with a large textured angry moon; similar caseback later appeared on Korona K0 Daredevil watches (2017) whose dials were also lume coated, including the large five-pointed star in the middle.

In 2011, he undertook an endeavor perhaps every watchmaker at some point thinks of but only few dare to actually attempt - making his own caliber. Since by this time the moon affiliation of his watch brand was determined, it was only natural that in the new movement everything would be centered around the moon.

Quite literally. Usually, the winding stem axis divides the movement into two functional branches - on the one side, winding wheel transmission goes to the barrel drum, while on the other, the main transmission is placed - from the barrel arbor to the barrel drum, approaching it from the opposite side.

In Sarpaneva’s new moon movement, aptly named Moonment, the structure of the watch mechanics was broken into by the moon-phase display. The watchmaker had to put it between the winding stem and the barrel drum as alternatives created more problems.

This resulted in the Moonment caliber having an absolutely mind blowing technical feature - from the dial side, the immovable disk made from fiberglass matrix is surrounded by a driving wheel on a peripheral bearing. Its purpose is to transmit rotation from the winding stem to the barrel drum.

Watchmaking wonders don’t end there. As described above, the transparent fiberglass disc of the moon-phase display does not rotate - it’s just a high-tech window serving to transmit image, either light or shadow, from the actual active part of the display, the dual disc rotating on the other side of the movement.

One of the two discs, which are in pure Sarpaneva’s fashion latticed, obstructs the fiberglass matrix on which, from the dial side, a luminescent crescent can be seen until midnight. It is luminescent because the display discs are coated on the inside with lume lending the whole composition a particularly impressive look, especially in twilight or in full dark.

The depiction is made even more impressive by the textured finishing of the moon matrix on which, you guessed it, Sarpaneva’s angry moon is engraved. When designing the movement, in particular the moon-phase display’s wheel gearing, Sarpaneva collaborated with Andreas Strehler, a fellow independent watchmaker who himself is a renowned expert in moon watches and the creator of a movement with the most accurate moon-phase indication - to accumulate 24 hours worth of variation it would have to run for two million years.

Sarpaneva refrained from taking a swing at this record and instead opted for a less ambitious but still quite a spectacular figure - his movement maintains the accuracy of indication for 14 thousand years. The Moonment caliber, which became the basis for Lunations watch, was premiered in Baselworld 2019. The following year, plagued by the Covid-19 pandemic, Stepan Sarpaneva introduced a new version of the design, the Lunations Harvest Moon watch with an orange-glowing moon lume and a modified dial.

This model was released as a 10-piece limited edition. When talking about Stepan Sarpaneva it would be amiss not to mention two unusual watches he made together with Maximilian Büsser’s watch brand MB&F. MoonMachine, released in 2012, was based on MB&F’s Horological Machine Nº3 Frog with the addition of Sarpaneva’s trademark “angry moon” moon-phase display.

The timepieces were released in titanium, blackened titanium and pink gold, 18 pieces each for a total of 54. The collaboration went on in 2016 when the second watch in the series, MoonMachine 2, a modified version of MB&F Horological Machine Nº8, came out. The angry moon appears twice in this watch.

First on the optical prism display of Horological Machine Nº8, and then on the battle-axe rotor transformed into an openworked radial web, which similarly to Korona K3 is automatically wound.