Press releases for wristwatches often offer “lofty” statements and rarely understate the facts, but when the official blurb states that the Sarpaneva Korona K0 is “an executive class sports watch” it does not even come close to describing this striking, emotive and extraordinarily beautiful watch.

Stepan Sarpaneva launched this piece two years ago as a prototype, and details of the now-perfected model have just been released. It is still a superbly handcrafted and ultimately limited edition watch, but it marks a departure for the Finnish watchmaker – it is a diver’s watch capable of safely indicating dive time and is built to withstand depths of up to 300m.

Despite the utilitarian nature of the watch, the dramatic Korona caseshape remains unaffected, in a stroke of ingenious design the mainplate and diver’s bezel merge and move as one, so the profile does not need to be changed at all.  All the functions are operated using one crown, atypically located at 4 o’clock, tucked-in  neatly in a silhouette-preserving position.  At a glance this must be one of the most un-diver-like diver’s watches – ever.

The bold labyrinth of the dial is made from steel, which has been DLC coated and readability is ensured with superlume coated indices.  The case measures 46mm across and is also constructed from steel.  Inside is a modified and decorated Soprod A10 Calibre with 42 hours of power reserve featuring a mainplate which is  integrated with the divers timing ring.

The Sarpaneva Korona K0 will be available in three editions – stainless steel case, two toned steel case or a black DLC case, each presented on a rubber strap.

The Sarpaneva Korona K0 is also named by the watchmaker as the “Ruler of the Water” – many of Stepan’s watches have in their names and indeed in their creation  powerful themes relating to Finnish traditions, folklore and legends, and like the tales told over many generations here in Ireland, the boundary where fact ends and myth begins is often opaque and rarely defined.  You can read the “Ruler of the Water” tale at Monochrome who feature the story and sketches in full.

More Sarpaneva? ….

How about the Korona K3 Routa – Stark steel with a frosting of diamonds…

or perhaps the Korona Moonshine – will seduce you to the dark side without a backward glance…….

or the Korona K2 KAAMOS -  with its superb shadowy spider’s web skeletonisation.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Stepan Sarpaneva presents a new piece – the Sarpaneva Korona Moonshine.

The Moonphase function – a captivating, ethereal feature on a watch dial, often appearing on a background embellished with golden stars.  Blancpain have a characteristic little “man-on-the-moon” – happy and heavenly, De Bethune use a stunning spherical little ball which rotates on its own axis – beautiful and ingenious.  Stepan Sarpaneva …well he does moonphases a little bit ….er different to the others.  Fans of the talented young Finnish watchmaker will already know that there is nothing pure or innocent about his moon phase indicator from previous releases, the Korona K3 Black Moon and Harvest Moon, for the latest release his devilish little moon man goes for almost total dial domination.

The Sarpaneva Korona Moonshine

The piece features no hands but a skeletonised hour wheel constructed from stainless steel with an arrow indicator at the 6 o’clock serves to tell the time, and also a stainless steel moonphase wheel with luminous coating which completes its rotation every 29.5 days.  Inside is a Soprod A10 Calibre automatic movement, modified to include the moonphase function. The mischievous moon face is constructed from either silver or 18 carat gold.

The Sarpaneva Korona Moonshine

Using the boldly sculpted Korona case, the Moonshine measures 42mm.  Options available are stainless steel, 18 carat red or white gold and a black DLC case guaranteed to seduce you to the darkside without a backward glance.  Stepan Sarpaneva is quickly becoming a WatchPress favourite and this latest release is stunning without being gimmicky.  The Korona Moonshine comes presented on a finest leather strap.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Stepan Sarpaneva presents a new DLC coated version of his stunning Konona K2 named KAMMOS in honour of the “Polar Night” during which the sun barely rises for more than 5o days in the most northernly parts of his native country Finland.

Finland  – the most sparsely populated country in the E.U.  and not a country which you would expect to associate with creative and original watchmaking.  It is a curious fact that Finland has produced a succession of F1 drivers – Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen, Heikki Kovalainen, Kimi Räikkönen and don’t get me started on rally drivers, from Ari Vatanen to Mikko Hirvonen the country is surely a big bubbling melting pot of automotive talent.  Why?  Maybe the challenging forest roads and the fact that young Finns have to sit a proper driving test, forget 3-point turns, they have to prove that they can handle a power slide on icy terrain before they can pass,  is perhaps the reason why Finland has such an enviable racing driver heritage, but watchmaking?  Thanks to the world famous School of Watchmaking in Tapiola the Finns also have that niche covered.  Two rising stars of Independent Watchmaking, Kari Voutilainen and Stepan Sarapaneva are graduates.

The Sarpaneva Korona K2 KAAMOS is like all the watches in the Sarpaneva collection designed and created by Stepan and is adventurous and beautiful.  The characteristic sculpted case is particularly suited to its dark, shadowy DLC coating, the end result is dramatic and daring.

Sarpaneva Korona K2 KAAMOS

The piece features a three-part dial and date disc, its darkness illuminated by black rhodium-plated hands which along with the indexes have had a liberal luminous coating applied.  This is a stunning dial design, an impressive spider’s web-like skeletonisation which will not appeal to the average watch fan, but of course this is not an average watch.  Beneath the durable DLC the watch is constructed from stainless steel and measures 42mm.  Inside is a Soprod A10 Calibre automatic movement with a power reserve of 42 hours, modified to house the Sarpaneva see-through date disc and decorated with perlage.

The Sarpaneva Korona K2 KAAMOS comes presented on a leather strap.

Sarpaneva Korona K2 KAAMOS

Popularity: 7% [?]