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Lot Essay
Kari Voutilainen is one of the most impressive of contemporary independent watchmakers. His superlative work engages us immediately on a physical level and one can only stand in awe at the commitment, patience and dedication required to create these completely captivating mechanical works of art. When any one of Voutilainen’s phenomenal watches comes to auction it always creates a frisson of excitement among collectors. The present watch is very special indeed, a now legendary model, the ‘Decimal Minute Repeater’ and moreover, it is a unique example with power reserve sector.
Voutilainen’s realization of the Decimal Minute Repeating movement in 2004, for the first time in a wristwatch, is a quite incredible achievement of design, mathematical understanding and naturally, the very highest level of watchmaking skill. The tone and clarity of the two repeating gongs when struck by the two hammers is exceptional and the movement perfectly showcases Kari Voutilainen’s faultless level of finishing throughout. Voutilainen’s knowledge and study of the work of the great watchmakers of the past is quite evident in his work and indeed a ten-minute repeater system was first used by Abraham-Louis Breguet in the late 18th century. For Kari Voutilainen, using a decimal minute repeating system was logical and he described it thus: “For me this was just so logical; counting in 10s is what people do. So each ‘ting-tang’ equals a 10-minute interval instead of 15 minutes. Add the minutes and you are done. And even the minutes are easier to count and remember; 1-9 in the case of the decimal repeater compared to 1-14 in the classical one”. So different is the decimal minute repeating system from a standard minute repeater, that it meant Voutilainen had to design and make a completely new mechanism for his new repeating system. When the repeating is activated by the slide on the band, firstly the last hour is counted in single strikes, then a double strike sounds for each elapsed 10-minute period after the hour and finally a further single strike sounds each elapsed minute after the last full 10-minute period.
Kari Voutilainen is renowned for the perfection and beauty of his engine turned dials, created on age-old engine turning machines, a dial can take two days of work to complete the engine turning to the required standard. The present dial is made from a solid gold disc which has been silvered after engine turning.
Voutilainen’s realization of the Decimal Minute Repeating movement in 2004, for the first time in a wristwatch, is a quite incredible achievement of design, mathematical understanding and naturally, the very highest level of watchmaking skill. The tone and clarity of the two repeating gongs when struck by the two hammers is exceptional and the movement perfectly showcases Kari Voutilainen’s faultless level of finishing throughout. Voutilainen’s knowledge and study of the work of the great watchmakers of the past is quite evident in his work and indeed a ten-minute repeater system was first used by Abraham-Louis Breguet in the late 18th century. For Kari Voutilainen, using a decimal minute repeating system was logical and he described it thus: “For me this was just so logical; counting in 10s is what people do. So each ‘ting-tang’ equals a 10-minute interval instead of 15 minutes. Add the minutes and you are done. And even the minutes are easier to count and remember; 1-9 in the case of the decimal repeater compared to 1-14 in the classical one”. So different is the decimal minute repeating system from a standard minute repeater, that it meant Voutilainen had to design and make a completely new mechanism for his new repeating system. When the repeating is activated by the slide on the band, firstly the last hour is counted in single strikes, then a double strike sounds for each elapsed 10-minute period after the hour and finally a further single strike sounds each elapsed minute after the last full 10-minute period.
Kari Voutilainen is renowned for the perfection and beauty of his engine turned dials, created on age-old engine turning machines, a dial can take two days of work to complete the engine turning to the required standard. The present dial is made from a solid gold disc which has been silvered after engine turning.