he escapement that Breguet developed circa 1798 is “natural” because its balance, paired with two or four escape wheels, receives two direct impulses with each full oscillation, like a heart, and because it functions with little or no lubricant. Some consider it to be the most “biological” escapement there is. It does, however, present certain difficulties.

What appears simple on paper is mechanically complex and must be assembled within even stricter tolerances than usual. For a man like Kari Voutilainen – whose admiration of classical watchmaking is equalled only by his desire to propose his own innovative solutions – this combination of benefits and challenges was impossible to resist.

The cornerstone

In 2002 Kari Voutilainen quit his job teaching a complications course at WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) and set up as an independent, making watches under his own name. He showed his first piece three years later, in 2005, on the AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants) stand at Basel, turning heads with a minute repeater that, rather than sounding hours, minutes and quarters, struck the hours, minutes… and ten minutes. “It’s far simpler and far more intuitive,” he told us at the time. “As though we were physiologically used to the decimal system.”

Still, Kari saw further. He wanted to build a fully independent structure that would give him control over every aspect of his movements, from design to production all the way through to assembly.

The birth of calibre Vingt-8

In 2008 he began work on his own movement, although it would be three years before he presented it publicly, in 2011. Calibre Vingt-8, as he called it, would be the foundation on which Kari Voutilainen would build his brand over the long term, and the platform for an entire array of watches: each different, each coherent with the others.

The Finnish watchmaker knew exactly what the Vingt-8 had to be: robust and reliable, accurate and versatile, a multitasker that could accommodate various complications. Importantly, it also had to be a movement he could produce entirely in-house.

The rest would follow. Comprising 159 parts, calibre Vingt-8’s relative thickness (6.2mm for a 30mm diameter) is intentional, to ensure its robustness. Its longevity comes notably from an escapement that functions with minimum lubrication (also, variations in oil viscosity do not affect its stability), while German silver (a copper/nickel/zinc alloy) is more resistant to corrosion, harder-wearing and retains its appearance for longer compared with brass. The gear train is untreated (no electroplating) and all visible wheels are made from gold.

Because its natural escapement is around 30% more energy-efficient than a Swiss lever escapement, calibre Vingt-8 supplies approximately 65 hours of power reserve from a single barrel. For the balance spring, Voutilainen chose the innovative geometry of a typical Phillips overcoil with the lesser known Grossmann inner curve. This considerably improves accuracy.

The natural escapement

As for the escapement itself, “Breguet was ahead of his day. Whereas an escapement must be a precise construction, he was making watches at a time when there was no possibility to machine parts to high tolerances and no suitable measuring instruments. This lack of means explains why Breguet produced so few of his natural escapement, as simple and inspired as it may be. Initially, I encountered the same issues he would have faced. My first prototype, which had an identical construction to Breguet’s, performed averagely because there was too much play. To minimise this, with an identical gear train, I had to look for slightly different solutions and modify the design itself so that, in the event of a shock, the pallet lever wouldn’t disturb the proper running of the movement.”

The fabulous Vingt-8 family

Solid, efficient, accurate, magnificently finished and with an elegant architecture, calibre Vingt-8 gave Kari Voutilainen wings. This was the foundation on which he could build and let his creativity shine. Calibre Vingt-8 has equipped no fewer than 25 models since 2008, in a succession of variations, innovative displays and complications. It has produced original expressions, artistic collaborations, magnificent dials, superb guilloché, and the occasional provocation.

For the long term

Looking ahead, as he continued to work on his movement, Kari Voutilainen was already thinking about the watch’s exterior, how it would be assembled, and how he could adapt it to different models. So as to reduce the number of different parts, he developed and patented a system that attaches the dial not with the usual feet but with tubes that are mechanically fixed in the dial and the screws inserted in them. The hands can then be fitted with no risk of deforming the dial.

Lastly, and importantly, he designed his calibre so that he could integrate complications and displays directly, without additional modules. While the gear train is always the same, each iteration has a purpose-built plate, thus adding to the model’s exclusive value.

The Voutilainen 28SD10 Diamond and 28SB8 Sapphire

The latest in a long line of “28” watches, the Voutilainen 28SD10 and 28SB8 rank among the most refined expressions of watchmaking by Kari Voutilainen. They pair calibre Vingt-8, whose exceptional finishing can be enjoyed through the transparent caseback, with precious stones. The play of light, depth and texture created by the hand-guilloché patterns on the dial – a technique in which Voutilainen excels – is elevated by baguette-cut diamond or sapphire hour markers, then further enhanced by the 36 baguette-cut diamonds or sapphires on the bezel.

A rare closed setting forms a seemingly uninterrupted circle of light. Sixty-three diamonds or sapphires adorn the case band with a further 36 on the lugs, employing a sophisticated invisible setting that reveals their natural radiance. A single diamond or sapphire is set in the crown, while the white gold buckles are finished with 48 baguette-cut diamonds or sapphires.