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The conversation
“Knowing the independent brands I own, can you propose one with a more distinct style, suited to my taste?”
The story
———— With the brief to propose an independent brands each with a strong DNA 3 were chosen but Sarpanva’s distinctive design and constant evolution was our personal best fit. Our client became curious about Sarpaneva’s Lunations, but required a subtle colour combination that suited his character. He was also unsure about the case size that contains the neo-Gothic skeleton dial inspired by New York manhole covers.
To convince him, we had the case and strap sent over as a guide so he could feel it on his wrist. Then we got to work. Black, blue and a deep bronze were visualised for the dial, but finally we decided on anthracite as it had the overall subtlety my client was seeking, while complementing the design. As hierarchy was also important to him, we chose a deep blue for the minute/hour ring, which was enough to differentiate without distracting.
Stepan Sarpaneva says, “My watches have a top note of northern melancholy seasoned with a dash of lunacy, to be served only to the chosen few.” With our Convopiece special, we’ve taken that exclusivity a stage further, to the immense satisfaction of our client..
About Sarpaneva watches
———— Stepan Sarpaneva is in a special category that defies horological convention. The nephew of renowned product designer Timo Sarpeneva, Stepan learned his craft in Helsinki and spent ten years in Switzerland working on brands like Piaget and Parmigiani (under fellow Finn Kari Voutilainen).
In 2003 he returned to Helsinki to set up Sarpaneva Watches, and he says Finland provides him with the freedom and inspiration to create his unique work. Stepan has created watches inspired by Finland’s 1972 Motorcycle World Champion Jarno Saarinen, the legendary WW2 submarine Vetehinen, and even the Moomin characters from Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson’s children’s books. And he’s obsessed by Finnish moonlight, as evidenced by the moon phase that takes central stage on his Lunations model, first seen at Baselworld in 2019. Sapreneva’s first in-house movement (Moonment ) calibre is actually built around the complication and integrates an ultra-precise moon phase that only has to be adjusted for a single day of error once in 14,000 years. The high-grade Outokumpu supra 316L/4435 steel case looks like it could easily survive 14 millennia, too.
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Brand:
Sarpaneva
Model:
Lunations - Piece Unique
Dial:
Two-part stainless steel skeleton dial in
anthracite DLC-coated finish
Indexes in blue Swiss Super-Luminova®
Two-tone hands in Rhodium, Laser-machined
and hand-finished optical fibre moon face relief,
moon illumination powered by RC Tritec’s Lumicast®
Hands:
Hand-polished and curved steel
Movement:
Sarpaneva in-house Moonment® calibre,
21,600 vph (3 Hz) Mechanical manual-winding
Functions:
Hours, minutes, seconds and moon phase
Case:
ø 42mm, 9.8mm depth
Crystal:
Sapphire front and back
with anti-reflective coating
Strap:
Alligator with stainless steel pin buckle
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In the making
The first steps:
The anthracite toned ebache of the Sarpaneva in-house Moonment® calibre with rubies added.
Gearing up:
The gear train and iconic moonphase in place before the balnce wheel is added.
Distinctive details
This moon logo is an icon of the Sarpaneva brand (slightly based around Stepan Sapaneva’s face). This unique crown is awaiting to meet the watch.
Signed and sealed
The rubber seal is delicately place before the white gold bezel is secured
Hands free:
The Sarpaneva in-house Moonment® calibre fully assembled awating the hands, casing and testing.
A early vision:
Sarpeneva sent this shot which we presented to the client to sign off the dial tone.
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